BERHAMPUR: Mystery shrouds the death of a 35-year-old man whose injury-ridden body with his limbs tied was recovered from a water body in Kadamasing village within Ramgiri police limits in Gajapati district on Thursday.
Police identified the deceased as Ramchandra Nayak. Sources said following rain, Nayak and his mother, brother and sister-in-law ploughed their farmland on Sunday. After completing the task, everyone returned home except Nayak who remained in the field for some work.
When Nayak did not return home till late evening, his family members launched a search but could not trace him. Subsequently, they lodged a missing report in Ramgiri police station.
While the search for Nayak was underway, some locals found a man’s body floating in the village water body and raised an alarm. On being informed, Ramgiri IIC Gajapti Dora along with fire services personnel, reached Kadamasing and retrieved the body. Later, Nayak’s family members identified his body.
Police sources said Nayak’s legs and hands were tied to a wooden stick and a boulder. Apart from multiple injuries, a suspected bullet wound was also found on the back of his head.
Nayak’s family members said they have enmity with some villagers over a land dispute. They suspected that the murder might be a fallout of this dispute.
Acting on the complaint filed by Nayak’s family, police registered a murder case and sent the body to Paralakhemundi hospital for autopsy. Further investigation is underway.