Kendrapara: A man died by a reported suic*de inside the Kendrapara Collectorate premises Friday afternoon, prompting a police investigation into the circumstances leading to the incident.
The deceased was identified as Srichandan Das, alias Kalia, of Rayatundi village under Nikirai police station limits of Derabish block. He allegedly hanged himself using a towel tied to the railing of a staircase on the upper floor of the Collectorate building at around 3pm. He was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
According to family members, Srichandan, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste community, had been facing severe financial hardship and was seeking official permission to sell a piece of his land. They alleged that he had repeatedly approached the sub-collector’s office for approval but had failed to obtain it.
The family claimed that Srichandan visited both the sub-collector’s and collector’s offices Friday and was distressed after failing to secure a resolution to his grievance.
However, Sub-Collector Arun Kumar Nayak denied the allegations, stating that no application or related documents from Srichandan were pending in his office.
Collector Raghuram R. Iyer termed the incident unfortunate and said police had been directed to investigate all aspects of the case.
Town police have registered an unnatural death case (5/26) based on a complaint lodged by the deceased’s father, Bharat Das. Further investigation is underway.
