MALKANGIRI: Body of a 60-year-old man of Niladrinagar village under Orkel police limits, who had been missing for the last four days, was recovered from a paddy field on Saturday.
The deceased is Niranjan Samantray.
His family members and locals, however, alleged that he died after coming in contact with a low lying live wire in the paddy field.
Although they had informed the SOUTHCO officials of Balimela about the low lying wire in the past, no step was taken to repair them.
The angry mob thrashed Balimela SOUTHCO Junior Engineer K Nabin Kumar Patra and forcibly took him to the spot where the villager’s body was found and showed him the low lying wire.
Demanding compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the bereaved family and employment to one of the family members, villagers gheraoed the SOUTHCO office for several hours.
Balimela SOUTHCO SDO Pramod Kumar Nayak, however, said the wire was not charged.
On compensation, Nayak said he has drawn the attention of SOUTHCO authorities who would take a final call on the matter.