CUTTACK: In a bizarre twist of fate, an uncle-nephew duo on the watch and ward of an LPG godown for just one night died of asphyxiation after using the generator at Nagabali under Cuttack Sadar police station on Saturday night.
The deceased were identified as Jitendra Mahapatra (48) and his nephew Subhrajit Mahapatra (24). Jitendra was from Siso village under Harianta panchayat while Subrajit hailed from Nagari village.
Police said Jitendra was working as a labourer for loading and unloading of gas cylinders at Sujog Gas Agency’s depot belonging to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. He was asked to sleep in the godown on Saturday night as the security guard had gone on leave. The uncle asked his nephew to give him company since the latter had come over.
Generally, the security guard used to sleep inside the godown by placing the generator set outside. However, the uncle-nephew duo switched on the generator inside the godown and slept, Inspector Managobind Sahu said. Since the godown has no ventilation, the duo is suspected to have been asphyxiated, he added.
The matter came to fore when they did not respond in the morning and the gas agency employees informed police who broke open the doors and found them dead. The bodies have been sent to SCB Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. A case of unnatural death has been registered.