A contract killer identified as Lalu Yadav has been arrested by Jagatsinghpur police in connection with the brutal murder of a young woman a day after her engagement ceremony. The accused was apprehended from Kaimur district in Bihar and is scheduled to be produced before the court on Saturday.

According to police, the victim, Sasmita Das of Kathiapada village in Jagatsinghpur district, was murdered on April 20. Investigators revealed that Sasmita’s former lover, Suryakant Swain, allegedly plotted the murder after she got engaged to another man.

Police said Suryakant, unable to accept the engagement, hired contract killer Lalu Yadav and together they allegedly carried out the gruesome murder. Following the incident, both accused had gone absconding.

Earlier, Jagatsinghpur police had arrested prime accused Suryakant Swain from Jamshedpur during a special operation. With the arrest of Lalu Yadav, police claim to have cracked the sensational murder case completely.

“Lalu Kumar and Suryakant Swain came to Jagatsinghpur from Jamshedpur on April 13 and stayed at a lodge. Between April 13 and 15, the duo made several attempts to murder the woman but failed. They later returned to Jamshedpur,” Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Ankit Berma said while briefing the media.

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“After learning about the woman’s engagement, they again returned from Jamshedpur on April 17. Suryakant allegedly called the woman to a field, where the duo hacked her to death. Suryakant had promised to pay Rs 2 lakh to Lalu Kumar for carrying out the murder and had already paid him an advance of Rs 20,000,” the SP added.

Further investigation into the incident is underway.