Koraput: Police have arrested a 25-year-old youth for allegedly murdering a villager in Koraput district following a minor altercation, police said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Tuna Paraja alias Cigret Jani of Kumuliput village under Jeypore Sadar police limits, was apprehended on Friday evening in connection with the murder of Raghunath Gouda (40), police said.
According to the police, the incident came to light after the victim’s son lodged a complaint at Jeypore Sadar Police Station in the early hours of April 28, stating that he had found his father’s body lying in a roadside drain with multiple injuries and a slit throat.
Initially, several persons named in the FIR were interrogated, but their involvement could not be established during the investigation, officials said.
During sustained probe, police detained Tuna Paraja, who reportedly confessed to the crime during interrogation. He told investigators that the incident occurred on the evening of April 27 following a brief verbal exchange with the deceased on a village road.
The accused reportedly struck the victim twice on the head with a stone after a minor quarrel, kicked him into a roadside drain, and then slit his throat with a knife he was carrying. He later placed the victim’s bicycle over the body to mislead investigators.
Police said the accused subsequently fled the scene, washed the weapon near a drain, concealed it in soil, and later burnt his blood-stained clothes near a canal to destroy evidence.
Based on his confession, police recovered an iron knife with a wooden handle believed to have been used in the crime, along with remnants of burnt clothing.
The case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and further investigation is underway, police added.
