Gurundia police in Sundargarh’s Bonai sub-division have arrested a 25-year-old man, Laxman Oram, and his 45-year-old uncle, Gobind Oram, for the murder of Jayanti Kujur, a 28-year-old Anganwadi worker. Her body was recovered from the Dangajore dam on Sunday evening.
Jayanti, a resident of Jarda village, had been married to Laxman for six years. Laxman worked for a private firm in Rourkela. According to police, the couple had been facing marital discord for the past two months after Jayanti left Laxman and began living with another man, Arjun Oram, from the same village.
On Friday morning, Jayanti went missing. Her sister filed a missing person report the following day, fearing foul play. During preliminary investigation, Laxman surrendered at the Gurundia police station on Sunday and confessed to the murder.
Laxman told police that he confronted Jayanti on her way to work and strangled her when she refused to end her relationship with Arjun and return to him. After hiding her body in a nearby forest, Laxman later called his uncle Gobind, and together they transported the body around 115 km away to dispose of it in the Dangajore dam.
Based on his confession, police and fire services recovered the body from the dam. A post-mortem was conducted, and the body was handed over to her family.
Police also seized the scooty used in the crime. Laxman has been arrested for murder and destruction of evidence, while Gobind was arrested for destruction of evidence.
“We have arrested the husband of the deceased woman and his uncle, and further investigations are underway,” said Rameshwar Singh, inspector in-charge of Gurundia police station.
