KENDRAPARA: Mystery shrouds the death of a 23-year-old youth whose body was recovered from a pond in Kutaranga village within Nikirai police limits here on Wednesday evening.
The deceased was identified as Chandan Kumar Swain (23) of Kutaranga. Chandan recently qualified for the constable post in the Police department and was supposed to join the IRB Battalion at Rourkela in a couple of days.
Sources said Holi was celebrated in the area on Wednesday. Chandan took part in the celebration and also reportedly threw a party for the village youths over his government job. Subsequently, the youth and his friends went to the village pond to take bath during which he reportedly drowned.
Locals said Chandan might have been intoxicated due to which he accidently slipped into deep water while bathing and drowned. “There’s a deep pit just at the pond’s entry point. The mishap took place as Chandan stepped into the pit,” said villager Pravat Swain.
However, the deceased’s family members alleged that Chandan was poisoned by his friends out of jealousy over his new job. “Some of the village youths were envious of our son after he got the government job. They might have laced his food with poison during the party and after his death, dumped his body in the pond,” claimed Chandan’s mother Sabita. She also said her son was a good swimmer.
IIC of Nikirai police station Padmalaya Pradhan said the deceased’s body was sent to the district headquarters hospital for postmortem. A case of unnatural death has been registered and the exact reason behind the youth’s death will be ascertained after the autopsy report arrives, he added.