With his arrest, the mystery shrouding last week's double murder of the mother-daughter duo stands resolved, Phagwara DSP Sukhwinder Singh said.
The accused Chintumaji, hailing from Ranchi, was presently living with his family in Sukhchain Nagar area here, Singh said, adding that he has been arrested under Section 302 (murder) of IPC.
The body of the six-month-old girl, identified as Chirkuta, was found from a garbage dump in an empty plot in NRI Enclave on Phagwara-Sukhchain Nagar road on December 4 while the body of her mother, identified as Sunita Devi (35), was found from a dry well in the same area the next day.
After an argument, he allegedly hit his wife, during which his six-month-old daughter also got hit and died, police said.
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The accused dumped the body of his daughter on a garbage heap and threw his wife Sunita in the dry well near it, police said.
Chintumaji's teenage daughter Pooja, who worked in Kapurthala, recognised the picture of Chirkuta published in newspapers and reported the matter to the police.
She also told police that her mother was missing as well, following which investigations began and Chintumaji was arrested for the double-murder, the DSP said.