DHENKANAL: Mysterious shrouds the death of a woman and her two sons whose bodies were recovered from their house at Asabania village under Kantabania police limits here on Monday morning.
The deceased were identified as Golap Sahu (50) and her sons Bharat (30) and Litu (25). While locals suspect food poisoning as the reason of their death, police maintained that the trio died due to suffocation as they were sleeping in a closed room with a burning coal chullah.
Sources said Golap’s husband Antaryami Sahu works in a private company and has two wives. Antaryami’s wives live in separate houses in Asabania village.
On Sunday night, Golap and her two sons reportedly had chicken and spinach in dinner. Antaryami, however, did not eat the food and went to his second wife’s house to sleep. Subsequently, the mother and her sons went to bed after reportedly lighting a coal chullah in their room to protect themselves from the extreme cold.
On Monday morning, neighbours became suspicious when Golap and her sons did not come out of the house. They knocked on the door but failed to get any response. Subsequently, villagers broke into the house and found the trio in an unconscious state. They were immediately taken to the nearby Angul district headquarters hospital where the doctors pronounced them brought dead. The bodies were seized for postmortem.
On being informed, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Hindol Satya Prakash Nanda along with a team rushed to Golap’s house for investigation. A scientific team also reached the spot to assist in the probe.
The SDPO said police believe that the trio died of suffocation due to the toxic fumes from the burning chullah which they had lit in the small room. “The exact cause of their death will be ascertained after the autopsy report arrives. Police have registered a case in connection with the incident and further investigation is underway,” Nanda added.