The series of suicide incidents at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra continues to raise concerns after a mess employee allegedly committed suicide here on Monday inside the campus premises, officials said on Monday.

Kaushal, 30, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi, who worked as a cook in the hostel mess, was found hanging from a tree with a rope outside the mess area near Hostel number 4 during the early morning hours, ASI Vinod Kumar said.

During the past three months, Kaushal was the fifth person to die by suicide. Earlier, four students had also allegedly died by suicide in separate incidents.

Upon discovering the body, fellow staff members informed the institute authorities and police. Soon after reaching the spot, the police teams took the body into custody and sent for a postmortem, the ASI said.

ASI Vinod Kumar told PTI that, according to Kaushal’s family members, he was heavily addicted to alcohol. He had remained absent from mess duty on Sunday after consuming excessive liquor.

His wife informed Kumar that he left home around 5 am on Monday, saying that he was going for duty, but later the family received the news of his death.

The latest incident has once again intensified concerns over the series of suicide cases at NIT Kurukshetra in the recent past.

Last month, the Haryana Human Rights Commission had initiated a detailed inquiry into the recent suicide incidents reported at the NIT, Kurukshetra.

The NIT had also constituted a five-member committee last month to investigate recent student suicide cases on campus.