Nuapada: Three months after a 38-year-old man from Bolangir reportedly went missing during a trip with an acquaintance in February this year, the police Tuesday recovered his decomposed body hanging from a tree deep inside a jungle near Pati Dangar – close to Kerameli village, within Nuapada Sadar police limits – under mysterious circumstances.
The deceased has been identified as Balaram Hati, a resident of Kumhari village under Muribahal police station in Bolangir district. Balaram’s wife, Binodini Hati, 30, said he had left home February 12 morning for Nuapada with one Pradeep Parabhue, and went incommunicado thereafter.
When Binodini contacted Pradeep, he allegedly claimed that Balaram had returned home by train. When the family failed to trace Balaram’s whereabouts after an extensive search, they lodged a missing report at Muribahal police station February 19, prompting an investigation.
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Meanwhile, Monday, some villagers from Kerameli who went to collect firewood in the forest near Pati Dangar discovered a rotting corpse hanging approximately 50 feet above ground from a giant Bijaa tree.
The frightened locals first informed fellow villagers, who later approached police Tuesday morning. Upon receiving the information, a police team, led by Nuapada Sadar IIC Gangadhar Meher, along with Fire Services personnel and Deputy Collector Hemant Puta arrived at the spot.
The body was brought down in the presence of a magistrate and then sent to the district headquarters hospital for autopsy. In order to establish the identity of the body, the Nuapada Sadar police sent an alert to the control room.
After receiving the information, Muribahal police contacted the missing man’s family and took them to Nuapada. Binodini identified the body as that of her husband, after which police formally handed it over to the family.
The Nuapada Sadar police have registered an unnatural death case and launched an investigation.
PNN
