BALASORE: Mystery shrouds the death of Simulia block development officer (BDO) Biswaranjan Mohanty who was found hanging in his official quarters on Thursday.
A native of Baripada town in Mayurbhanj district, Mohanty joined Simulia BDO in October last year. The OAS officer was living alone in his official residence. Sources said Mohanty was scheduled to attend a virtual meeting of all BDOs convened by Balasore collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde. When he failed to turn up at the meeting, the collector asked one of the officers to contact him. When Mohanty did not respond to phone calls, some of the staff were sent to his quarters to enquire about him.
The staff found the door of his residence locked from inside. When the BDO did not respond after persisted knocking, they broke open the door and found Mohanty hanging from the ceiling fan. On being informed by the staff of Simulia block office, police rushed to the spot and seized the officer’s body. Simulia IIC Swarnalata Minz said it is believed that the BDO died by suicide. However, the exact cause of his death can be ascertained after postmortem.
Police informed the BDO’s wife and son about the incident. Though the officer’s sister reached Simulia, she was not in a condition to give any information. An unnatural death case has been registered and further investigation is underway, the IIC added.
Meanwhile, the BDO’s father Narendra Mohanty alleged that his son was under immense work pressure. The officer had requested the Balasore collector for leave recently. However, his request was turned down, he claimed.
Contacted, the Balasore collector said Mohanty was a sincere officer. He had last applied for leave on November 10 which was granted. After that, the BDO did not apply for any leave. Before his posting in Simulia, Mohanty served as the BDO of Gopabandhunagar in Mayurbhanj district.