BALANGIR: Mystery shrouds the death of a forester whose body was found hanging in his official residence here on Sunday evening.
The deceased was identified as 59-year-old Byasadev Sahu of Khaliapali village under Balangir municipality. Posted in Balangir forest range, Sahu was due to retire after about a year of service.
Sources said Sahu returned to his quarters near Balangir forest range office for lunch on Sunday. However, he did not report back to his office in the evening. Suspecting something was wrong, one of his colleagues went to his residence and found the door locked from inside. Despite repeated calls, there was no response.
On being informed, a team from Laxmijore police station reached the spot, broke open the door and found Sahu’s body hanging inside the house. The body was seized for postmortem.
While the circumstances surrounding his death are yet to be established, it is suspected that the forester took his own life. Sources said Sahu had allegedly taken money from some persons and was reportedly under intense pressure to repay the debt. It is also learnt that a legal notice had allegedly been issued to him in connection with the unpaid amount.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Balangir Sadar Saroj Kumar Upadhyaya said the exact cause of the forester’s death would be ascertained after completion of the inquest and postmortem.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Balangir Ajit Bishi described Sahu as a sincere and efficient forester. He had recently received the Best Forester Award at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi on August 15. He was also honoured with a state-level award earlier.
Sahu is survived by two sons and his wife, who reside in Khaliapali.