A police officer looks at the hotel room. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, April 22: Mystery shrouds the death of a young scientist, Subhas Chandra Sethy, whose body was recovered from a hotel here on Thursday. From outward appearances it seemed to be a case of suicide, but the victim’s wife alleged that he had been murdered, giving the case an altogether new turn.

Hints of an illicit affair with his elder brother’s wife have also emerged.

Police said that the body of Subhas Chandra Sethy (35), who was working with Rare Earths Limited, Berhampur, was found lying near the bathroom of his hotel room in the city.

Police recovered two bottles of pesticide, an identity card and a “suicide note” from the hotel room. The note held “no one responsible” for the death of the scientist.

“We have registered a case of unnatural death and investigation is on,” a police officer said.

Sangita, wife of the deceased, said: “My husband has been killed. Sanjukta, the wife of his elder brother and her two sons used to torture him,” she alleged.

Employees of the hotel where he died, however, were reluctant to speculate.

“Around 11am yesterday one of our employees went to his room and found him lying near the bathroom. We immediately rushed him to S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital where he died around 1pm,” said hotel manager Vivekananda Boitai.

According to the manager, Subhas had appeared quite cheerful when he checked into the hotel on April 18.

A native of Balipada village in Sailo Govindpur of Cuttack district, Subhas had worked for many years with BARC before being transferred to the Chhatrapur unit of India Rare Earths Limited in August 2010.

Subhas, his wife Sangita and two-year-old daughter had been staying in the house of his in-laws in Berhampur since the death of his parents.

Sources said that Subhas, who married Sangita in 2007, had allegedly developed an illicit relationship with his elder brother’s wife Sanjukta. There was tension between husband and wife over the affair.

“It was only few months ago that Sangita informed us about the affair between Subhas and his elder brother’s wife. I learned of his death around 1pm yesterday. I rushed to S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital only to find that he had died,” said Sangita’s uncle Tapas Sethy.

Sanjukta denied that she and Subhas were having an affair. “Subhas was like my son. He was only six when I became a member of the family after marriage,” she said.