Jagatsinghpur: Police have arrested a contract killer from Bihar in connection with the murder of a woman in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district, a day after her engagement ceremony.

The accused, identified as Lalu Kumar alias Lalu Yadav, was arrested from Kaimur district in Bihar on Friday. He was brought to Jagatsinghpur and underwent medical examination at the district headquarters hospital before being produced in court.

Addressing a press conference, Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police said the accused was involved in the murder of Sasmita Das of Kathiapada village under Sadar police limits.

According to police, Sasmita was engaged to a man on April 19. The very next day, her former lover, Suryakant Swain, allegedly called her to a field near her house, where he and the hired killer murdered her.

After the crime, both accused fled the area. Police had earlier arrested Suryakant from Jamshedpur within two days of the murder, while Lalu managed to evade arrest for several weeks.

A special team of Jagatsinghpur Police later tracked him down in Bihar and arrested him in Kaimur after conducting raids in Jamshedpur and nearby areas.

Police investigation revealed that Suryakant and Lalu worked together at an automobile workshop. Suryakant allegedly planned the murder after feeling betrayed by Sasmita following her engagement elsewhere.

Police said Suryakant had struck a deal of Rs 2 lakh with Lalu to kill Sasmita and had paid Rs 20,000 in advance. The duo had reportedly made an earlier attempt to execute the plan but failed before finally carrying out the murder on April 20.

Police have seized a Hyundai car, a mobile phone and ATM cards from the arrested accused.