A person arrested on Friday for allegedly murdering a retired engineer in Dispur has confessed to having killed him for not paying his dues.

Baruah, a retired engineer of Pollution Control Board (PCB), Assam, was found murdered at his residence near Dispur Law College on January 8.

A police source said Ratan Das, 20, of Lalmati here, was arrested based on specific input on Friday morning. On interrogation, he confessed to have killed 71-year-old engineer Paresh Chandra Baruah.

The source said Das claimed he used to work as a domestic help and also did odd jobs at Baruah’s residence, including cleaning the garden, his car and the house. He was supposed to get Rs 2,000 from Baruah for his services.

He said when he went to Baruah’s residence on January 8, the victim refused to pay the money he owed Das, leading to a heated argument between them, which later led to a scuffle.

Das told the police that he hit Baruah “in anger” with an iron pipe which he found in the house.

The engineer was hit multiple times and excessive bleeding was suspected to have caused his death. Das fled after the incident and police found no evidence of theft.

The police said Das was accompanied by another person who is yet to be identified but they have already initiated an operation to track him down.

Das has been sent to police custody for four days where he will be interrogated further.

According to preliminary investigation, police found he was alone at his home when the incident occurred.

The victim lived just a few hundred metres from the secretariat and MLA hostels, with his wife, a doctor.

The area is considered one of the highly-secure locations in the city.

His wife, Garima Saikia Baruah, found her husband drenched in blood on the ground floor after she came back from work. She confirmed his death first before informing the police around 10pm.

Police had detained Himangshu Barman of Udalguri on January 10 in connection with the case. He was detained on suspicion that he was fired from his job as a driver by the retired engineer two months ago. After verification, it was found that Barman did not kill the victim and he was released.

Bhaskar Baruah, a resident of the same area, said since the incident occurred in a high-security area, it raises questions about proper patrolling.

The area is also close to Dispur police station.

However, the police managed to track down the prime suspect within a short time and although he confessed to his involvement in the murder, they will verify his statements and based on evidence, further action will be taken.

The police are also taking measures to curb such crimes and have started verifying tenants living in the city.