In a major breakthrough in the case of murder of Rama Devi Women’s University student Jharaphula Nayak, police on Thursday arrested Shakti Sekhar Swain, an associate of prime accused Rakesh Swain, from Bhubaneswar.

Sekhar Swain, who had been absconding since January 27, is accused of helping Rakesh in dumping Jharaphula’s body on a roadside in Jajpur district after her murder.

Notably, Rakesh, who had been arrested earlier, is currently lodged at a jail in Jajpur district. Besides, on April 11, the Jajpur police arrested another accused, Amaresh Rout, a resident of Sundarpada in Bhubaneswar, for his alleged involvement in the case.

Jharaphula, a tribal resident of Mayurbhanj district, died mysteriously after spending a night in the OYO Shiv Sai Guest House at Dharma Vihar in Bhubaneswar on January 26 with her alleged boyfriend Rakesh. Instead of informing police, Rakesh along with Sekhar carried the body by a scooter and dumped it at Mulapala under the Kuakhia police limits in Jajpur district.

In another major development, police on Thursday revealed the motive behind the Jharaphula murder.

Jajpur SP Rahul PR said the girl was killed by her male friend Rakesh as she was insisting him to repay over Rs 30,000, which had been borrowed by him from her.

“Rakesh Swain had borrowed over Rs 30,000 from Jharaphula for buying a motorcycle. A few weeks before her murder, the girl asked him to return the money. Later on January 24, she went to Bhubaneswar for attending a birthday party. During her stay in Bhubaneswar, she insisted Rakesh for repayment of the money and threatened him to disclose his loan from her before his family members if he did not repay,” the SP said.

“On January 26, Rakesh took Jharaphula to a hotel in Bhubaneswar on the pretext of repaying the money. He forced her to consume liquor in the hotel room. As she fell unconscious after liquor consumption, he smothered her to death,” the police official said.