
ROURKELA/BERHAMPUR: Mystery shrouds the separate deaths of two teenagers whose bodies were found in Sundargarh and Rayagada districts on Monday.
In Sundargarh, the highly-decomposed body of a 19-year-old girl was retrieved from Jhuria nullah inside a forest near Kandar village within Gurundia police limits in Bonai sub-division.
Police said the girl, Gouri Kisan of Dalia village, was missing since January 2. She was last seen with Rajesh Kisan, a youth of nearby Kansar village. Some villagers spotted the girl’s body in the nullah and informed police. The body was decomposed beyond recognition. Gouri’s family members identified the body from her clothes and belongings.
Police said Gouri’s family has accused Rajesh of murdering her. A murder case was registered and the girl’s body preserved at the morgue for autopsy. Efforts are underway to trace and nab Rajesh who is absconding.
Similarly in Rayagada, the body of a 16-year-old boy was found hanging in Gatiguda village within Bissamkatak police limits on the day. The deceased, identified as Sudhir Karkaria of Kurli village in Niyamgiri area, was a student of Class X in the government high school run by ITDA in Gatiguda. He was staying in the school hostel.
Sources said Sudhir did not attend classes on the day citing ill health. When other students returned to the hostel after school, they found Sudhir hanging in his room. As the news spread, locals and Sudhir’s family members reached the school. They alleged that the student was murdered.
On being informed, a team of police led by Bissamkatak SDPO Santoshini Oram and IIC Surya Chandra Padhy reached the school and assured the irate locals of an impartial inquiry into the death. Later, scientific team and sniffer dog were roped in for investigation.