Cuttack: The alleged suicide death of a 47-year-old ASI, serving in 6th Battalion of the Odisha Armed Police, took a shocking turn after a woman claiming to be his second wife performed his last rites before his legally-wedded wife and family could arrive.
According to sources, the ASI, Biswajit Sethi, a native of Patnagarh in Balangir district, allegedly consumed pesticide at his rented residence at Pratapnagari under the Sadar police limits, on the outskirts of Cuttack, on Wednesday. He was rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition and was admitted to the ICU of the Medicine ward. He, however, succumbed around 12.15 pm the following day.
Following a postmortem examination, the SCB authorities handed over the body to a woman, who identified herself as Biswajit’s wife and he was cremated shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, Jyotsna Sethi, who was married to Biswajit, received a call from battalion officials around 1.15 pm on Thursday informing her about his death. She immediately left for Cuttack with their teenage daughter and other relatives, only to discover upon arrival at the hospital that the body had already been handed over to another woman and cremated.
Jyotsna expressed ignorance about Biswajit’s second marriage, adding to the shock and raising questions about the circumstances of the body’s handover.
Biswajit had married Jyotsna from Kuarmunda in Sundargarh district on April 28, 2013.. The couple, however, had been living separately since 2022 with Jyotsna residing in Rourkela, where she is employed at a private hospital, the sources added.
