Sambalpur, July 18: A 24-year-old beautician was allegedly abducted and murdered in Odisha's Sambalpur district.

Police have arrested the prime suspect and recovered the victim's body from a forest.

The victim, identified as Sarita Sa (24), was a resident of Kusumi Mahulaguda village under the jurisdiction of Mahulapali police station. She worked at a beauty parlour in Kuchinda town.

According to police, Sarita went missing on July 16 while attending Rath Yatra celebrations in Kuchinda. After she failed to return home, her family filed a missing person complaint, leading police to launch an investigation.

As part of the probe, investigators detained the prime accused, Anil Pruseth, a resident of Kundaposi village. During questioning, Pruseth allegedly confessed to abducting Sarita in a car, killing her, and dumping her body in the Badarama forest under Jamankira police limits.

Based on the accused's alleged confession, police recovered the body from the forest and sent it for postmortem examination.