A migrant labourer from Manipur was arrested early today on charges of rape and murder of an octogenarian woman in her house in the city a couple of days ago.

The 85-year-old Palaniammal was found dead in her house on December 19, with a cloth around her neck and two bangles missing from her person.

Investigation led to the information that a few migrant labourers were staying in the vicinity of the house in Gandhipuram and police zeroed in on one Mohammed Sameer Khan (24); a team spread out across the city to nab him, police said.

A police team on morning rounds found a man jumping down from a flyover after seeing them. They managed to nab him and admitted him to the Government Hospital for treatment, they said.

Upon questioning, Khan, a native of Bishnupur district of Manipur, confessed that he had entered the woman’s house in an inebriated condition and raped and strangled her to death to keep the issue a secret and also taken away the bangles, police said.

After recovering the bangles, police remanded him to custody and lodged him in the Central Jail here.