Bhubaneswar, Dec. 29: A 20-year-old caretaker of a private de-addiction centre was allegedly strangled to death by 36 inmates at Naharkanta on the city outskirts last night.

Police have so far detained six of the 36 accused. The others are on the run.

The deceased, Sumit Ranjan Behera, was allegedly killed when he refused to open the lock of the centre's gate to let them escape.

The matter came to light this morning after an employee of the centre lodged a complaint.

"Some of the inmates, who wanted to escape from the centre, asked Behera to hand over the keys of the main gate. When he refused, they killed him and escaped," the FIR stated.

The cops said that prima facie it appeared to be a case of death by strangulation.

"The limbs and hands of the deceased were tied up with bed sheets. Behera, a native of Kendrapara, had been working at the centre for the past two years. He used to be with the inmates all the time and was quite popular among them," said an official of the centre.

A police source said Behera and the 36 accused inmates of the centre were sleeping on the first floor, while two other officials were asleep with 11 other inmates on the ground floor of the building.

Sources at the centre said the accused inmates had been staying there for the past six to seven months.

"The inmates were given medicines and they also underwent fitness programmes such as yoga. We had also organised an interactive session for the inmates with those who have successfully given up drugs. They had never shown any violent streak," said centre chairman Litu Patnaik.

The police suspected that the inmates tried to escape from the centre to celebrate New Year.

"Most of the addicts undergo bouts of hallucination during de-addiction sessions and want to move out of the confines of the centre. Confining them to a house can also frustrate them, leading to violent behaviour," said physician Nilamadhab Prusty, who has worked on de-addiction.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said that some of the inmates of the centre were being questioned to ascertain the exact sequence of events that led to the incident.

"It appears to be a case of murder. We have also asked the authorities at the centre to provide the address and contact details of the inmates. Further investigation is on," said Bhoi.

The police also suspect that the caretaker might have been restricting the movement of the inmates that might have made them nurse a grudge against him.

"It is also alleged that some of the inmates had criminal antecedents. We are verifying their antecedents," said a police official.