The senior police officer said the arrest was made on the basis of "confessionary statements".

The police have arrested a 35- year-old man in connection with two of the three murder cases that were reported in Cuttack within 24-hours last week, a senior officer said Friday.

The police had picked up Narayan Sahu from his Nayagarh house on Monday and after three days of questioning he was arrested on Thursday, said City senior police officer Akhileshvar Singh.

The senior police officer claimed that Narayan Sahu has "confessed about his involvement" in the killing of two homeless persons over a previous rivalry at OMP Square of the city on July 22 night and July 23 night during interrogation.

"The police will take him on remand for further questioning and establish his involvement in the third murder of the city last week in which another homeless person was also killed while he was sleeping on the footpath of the Ranihat Canal Bridge", Akhileshvar Singh said adding if required, Narayan Sahu will undergo lie-detection test and other scientific tests.

The family members of Narayan Sahu claimed that he was innocent and mentally disturbed. Refuting the claims made by Narayan Sahu's family, the senior police officer said the arrest was made on the basis of "confessionary statements" made by the accused person and the circumstantial evidences.

Police also displayed a blunt but newly purchased axe and two clean and fresh towels claiming that the axe was the weapon of offence, which was retrieved from near the crime spot after eight days and the towels, the only apparels used by Narayan Sahu during the past three months while staying in a make-shift shanty in these rainy days.

Three murders were reported in the city in a span of 24 hours last week. The victims, all men, were aged over 40 years and found on the roadside.