Mahanadi Boat Mishap: After Tragedy, Confusion Over Fate Of Missing ODRAF Jawan In Odisha

Cuttack: There was utter confusion over the death of ODRAF jawan Sitaram Murmu on Saturday, a after he went missing during an operation to rescue an elephant in Mahanadi near Mundali barrage on Friday afternoon.

According to sources, NDRF jawans had found the body of a person during a search operation near Dhabaleswar on Saturday morning.

Following this, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena tweeted that the missing jawan’s body was found. Later, however, the SRC put out another post to deny report of the jawan’s death and said his office had received wrong information.

“One decomposed body that is found is not identified by the family. Murmu’s body not yet traced. Wrong info shared is deeply regretted,” he added.

On his part, commander of NDRF’s 3^rd Battalion Arun Devgan told the media that one of the ODRAF jawans who was part of the elephant rescue operation and senior officers had come to identify the body. They, however, confirmed that the body recovered was not that of the missing ODRAF jawan.

Devgan said NDRF has handed over the body to the IIC of Sector-II police station in Cuttack.

He further said four NDRF teams have been deployed from Mundali barrage to Jobra barrage to search for the missing jawan since Saturday morning. Four more teams were searching Mundali and its upper catchments, he added.

In a related development, the condition of four ODRAF jawans and OTV cameraman Prabhat Sinha, who were rescued in a critical condition from Mundali barrage and admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, is stated to be stable.

Three ODRAF jawans are admitted in the hospital’s casualty ward and one ODRAF jawan and the cameraman are in the ICU, SCB sources said.