Raurkela: Enraged residents of Sundaragada town gheraoed the local police station on Thursday night after a 22-year-old youth was found dead under mysterious circumstances in an abandoned car near Bhojpur along State Highway (SH)-10.
The agitators alleged that the victim, identified as Abhijit Naik, was murdered. Police have detained one Bibhuti Sahu (24) for questioning.
According to reports, Naik was last seen with Sahu on Wednesday evening and he did not return home that night. On Thursday, his body was recovered from the front seat of an abandoned car parked beside a scrap shop along SH-10.
Sundaragada Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Nirmal Mohapatra said locals spotted the body around 11.30 am on Thursday and alerted police, who went to the spot and recovered the body. Naik had laceration marks on his left armpit and lower abdomen, the officer added.
The SDPO said Sahu revealed during interrogation that they were riding a motorcycle in an inebriated condition. They met with an accident following which he had no memory of what happened next.
IIC of Sundaragada Town police station Sushant Parida said Sahu, a cylinder delivery boy, and Naik drank together for hours on Wednesday evening and rode the two-wheeler aimlessly. Around midnight, they fell from the motorcycle at Bhojpur. Subsequently, Naik’s body was recovered from the abandoned car while Sahu was found sleeping in a field in Karamdihi, around three km from the spot.
The IIC said before dying, Naik had vomited inside the car. It was possible that after falling from the two-wheeler, Naik walked to the vehicle and slept there, the IIC added.
Police have registered a murder case on basis of the complaint filed by the deceased’s brother. The autopsy report is awaited to ascertain the exact cause of Naik’s death. Further investigation is underway, Parida said.