An inmate of a private de-addiction centre at Uttampur in Cuttack was found dead on Tuesday.

It is suspected that some of the inmates killed him. Four people have been arrested.

The deceased has been identified as Somyaranjan Das, 37, an engineering graduate from Razbazar in Jatni in Khurda district.

Tusarkanti Sethi, an inspector with the Cuttack Sadar police station, said: "Somyaranjan worked in the private sector. But after he developed an illness, he quit his job and returned home. His family members admitted him to the rehabilitation and de-addiction centre about four months ago for treatment. Last night, the inmates fought over some issues. We suspect that he was murdered."

Sources said Soumyaranjan had returned from Mumbai after he went into depression. Rabindra Das, father of the deceased, said: "My son was murdered. The incident took place because of the callous attitude of the de-addiction centre. We are paying money for his stay. We need to know why the CCTV remains non-functional in the centre."

One of the founding members of the rehabilitation centre, Kabuli Mulia, said: "There was heavy rain last night. There was no power in the area. Some inmates tried to escape by breaking the skylight. Soumyaranjan raised an alarm, following which the attempt to flee was foiled.

"Enraged over it, the inmates who had tried to escape attacked him and strangled him to death. Those arrested have confessed to the crime. Our staff found Soumyaranjan lying unconscious in the morning and informed us. We immediately rushed him to the hospital, where he was declared dead. We immediately informed the police," Mulia said.

Sources said the police have seized the towel, which was allegedly used by the accused to strangle Soumyaranjan to death.