Parjang: Police Friday recovered the mutilated body of a man from a pond at Muktapasi village under Kamakhyanagar police limits in Parjang block of Dhenkanal district.
The deceased has been identified as Rajesh Kumar Pani alias Lulu, 43, of Saanda village in the district. His family members have alleged that he was murdered and his body dumped in the pond.
According to his family, Rajesh had told his wife that he was going to Muktapasi for a video shoot and left home Thursday. Before leaving, he recorded a short reel, which he later uploaded to his Instagram account.
However, his mobile phone was found switched off Thursday afternoon. Family members searched for him in Muktapasi Thursday evening but could not trace him. Meanwhile, locals spotted his body floating in the pond Friday morning and informed the police. While a motorbike and a pair of slippers were found on the pond embankment, Rajesh’s camera was missing. His gold ring, necklace and mobile phone were also not found.
Fire service personnel from Kamakhyanagar retrieved the body, which bore injury marks and showed signs of bleeding. Police seized the body and sent it for a post-mortem to the Kamakhyanagar hospital. A scientific team later collected samples from the spot. Rajesh’s brother-in-law, Arijit Pana of Verunia village under the Saanda outpost, lodged a formal complaint alleging that someone misled Rajesh with a false story about a video shoot, murdered him in a preplanned manner and threw the body into the pond. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation.