ROURKELA: The charred body of a Plus II student along with his fully gutted scooter was found from a torched hay stack in Sargipali under Lefripada police limits in Sundargarh district on Friday.
Police suspect Mahesh Pradhan, 19, may have been murdered and the body burnt in the hay stack near the Navodaya Vidyalaya late on Thursday night. The location where the incident took place is barely 1 km from Sargipali police outpost and about 140 km from Rourkela.
The incident came to light after villagers on early Friday morning saw the charred body and the two-wheeler before informing police.
Initially, the body could not be identified and police identified victim as Mahesh Pradhan using the chassis number of the gutted vehicle. Mahesh was son of Duryodhar Pradhan residing near the regulated market committee complex at Sargipali.
Sundargarh SP Pratyush Diwakar visited the site to take stock of the situation and police sent the body for autopsy to Sundargarh district headquarters hospital.
Diwakar said preliminary investigation revealed Mahesh was last seen going out on his scooter on Thursday night and did not return home.
While investigation is underway from all angles, the SP said, prima facie it appeared the victim may have met with an accident and hit the paddy straw stack. That might have led to a fire that reduced everything to ashes.
Diwakar said an unnatural death case has been registered and phone call records of the 19-year-old are being analysed to know about his movement on Thursday night. If anything suspicious is found, the case would be converted accordingly.
The SP said there was no struggle mark on the site to suggest foul play and his family members also did not cite any such possibility. The location is along a yet-to-be-opened newly-constructed road on the outskirts of Sargipali and seldom frequented by local villagers.