JHARSUGUDA: A 20-year-old Nepali youth died of suspected heart attack while practicing for the upcoming Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) Gurkha Sepoy recruitment drive here on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Gobinda Kumal of Badigad village in Baglung district of Nepal.
Sources said Kumal had come to Jharsuguda to take part in the recruitment drive of the OSAP 2nd Battalion. While preparing with fellow aspirants at the Reserve Police Ground here, he suddenly collapsed at around 7 am. Kumal reportedly complained of severe chest pain before losing consciousness.
His friends and Nepali nationals Tek Bahadur Rana and Sandip Rana immediately alerted OSAP havildar Jiban Prakash Shrestha who rushed Kumal to the battalion hospital. He was later referred to Jharsuguda district headquarters hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Commandant of OSAP 2nd Battalion Sriprasad Tamang said the deceased’s body has been kept at the hospital for postmortem. The autopsy will be conducted after Kumal’s father arrives from Delhi.
The incident cast a shadow over the upcoming recruitment drive which is scheduled to begin from September 17. As per official notification, the drive aims to fill up 135 Gurkha sepoy vacancies in the OSAP 2nd Battalion. A total of 2,873 candidates from both India and Nepal have registered for the recruitment process. The final selection will be based primarily on the physical test.