UMERKOTE: Five days after he was reported missing, the headmaster of a government school in Nabarangpur district was found dead in a forest near Mainpur village in neighbouring Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Alekha Charan Bhakta (32) of Bada Bharandi village under Umerkote police limits. He was the in-charge headmaster of Ratakhandiguda government high school in Jharigaon block.
Bhakta was appointed as an observer for the ongoing Class X board examination at Kalegaon government high school in Jharigaon. After completing his official duty on February 21, he left the examination centre around 12.30 pm. However, he did not reach his home by evening. Repeated attempts by his family members to contact him on his phone were unsuccessful.
The next day, Bhakta’s elder brother lodged a missing complaint in Jharigaon police station. Acting on the complaint, police formed a t e a m a n d l a u n c h e d a n investigation.
On the day, Mainpur police in Chhattisgarh recovered the body of a man hanging in the forest with the help of a cloth. Bhakta was identified through his Aadhaar card which was recovered from the spot along with his bike. Subsequently, Mainpur police informed their Jharigaon counterparts, following which Bhakta’s family members rushed to Chhattisgarh. A complaint was filed in Mainpur police station and the body was handed over to t h e f a m i l y a f t e r postmortem.
Notably, the area where Bhakta’s body was found is around 70 km from Jharigaon.Though prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide, the circumstances that led the headmaster to take the extreme step remain unclear. Police said the exact cause of death will be ascertained after completion of probe.