Bhubaneswar: Two days after a businessman was found dead under mysterious circumstances within Balianta police limits on the outskirts of Odisha capital, Commissionerate Police claimed to have cracked the case by arresting a woman in this connection here today. The accused was identified as Sunki Rana alias Soni.

Police said Soni was businessman Biswajit Nayak alias Babu's caretaker for a while. She was having an affair with Biswajit and wanted to marry him. But when Biswajit refused, Soni took revenge and committed the crime out of lure for property. Police further informed that this is not the first time Soni had committed a crime. In 2005, she had been sentenced to 12 years' jail for murdering her sister in-law when she was in Jharsuguda. After her release, Soni was putting up at an ashram in Puri for the last three years. During her stay, she had met Biswajit's mother and had started attending to her. Her acquaintance with Biswajit grew over time and the duo reportedly started having an illicit affair. Sources said Biswajit asked her to leave the ashram and stay with him but Soni refused. Further, when the latter expressed her desire to marry, Biswajit refused to commit. This lead to a rift between the couple and eventually triggered Soni to commit the crime.

On Saturday, Biswajit, 43, was found in a pool of blood with his throat slit at Sagua village in Balianta. Official sources said it appeared he was murdered two days back. Preliminary investigation revealed that he was residing in Bhubaneswar and running a hotel in VSS Nagar area. He had come to the village a few days ago but was living in a separate house instead of staying with his father.

When his younger brother Ranjit telephoned him on Saturday, there was no response to the calls. Later, Ranjit asked Natia, one of his family members, to visit the house. When Natia reached the place in the evening, he detected foul smell emanating from the house and looked into the house through the window only to find Biswajit lying dead in a pool of blood under a blanket.

On getting information, police reached the village and recovered the body for post-mortem along with initiating an investigation to ascertain the circumstances which led to the death. Later, probe revealed that Soni had committed the crime after Biswajit refused to marry her. On the fateful day, she carried out the murder in the afternoon and waited till evening to catch a public transport and flee the spot, official sources added.