Berhampur, Nov. 20: Mamata Kumari Panda, the first Odia woman boxer to represent the country at an international boxing championship and a sub-inspector with the state police, tried to commit suicide by jumping into a well last night.
Panda, 34, was rescued and admitted to MKCG Hospital at night and later shifted to Apollo Hospitals at Visakhapatnam. She is a posted as a sub-inspector at Adaba police station in Gajapati district.
Panda tried to commit suicide near her parental home in Bijipur following the death of her husband, Neelamadhab Das. Das, who owned a grocery shop at Goilundi, died allegedly due to excess intake of medicines and severe chest pain yesterday. He had been admitted to MKCG Hospital after he complained of chest pain. He breathed his last in the evening.
Deputy inspector general of police (southern range) Amitav Thakur said an unnatural death case has been registered following the death of Das. "A police team is being sent to Visakhapatnam to record Panda's statement," Thakur said.
Panda represented the country at the international boxing championship held in Pyongyang, Korea, in 2005 and was awarded the Best Technical Trophy.
During her career as a sportsperson, she excelled in various sports such as powerlifting, basketball, kho-kho and athletics and won several medals. She snatched the gold medal in the 52-kg category in Ganjam district powerlifting championship in July 2002.
She participated in the 51st Junior National Basketball Championship Sarkaghat (Mandi) in 2000. She also represented her school in the State School Athletic Association Meet in 1998 and 1999.
Her father, Keshaba Panda, is a former weight lifter.
Panda was appointed as a constable with the state police in July 2004, under the sports quota.
Investments
The state-level Single Window Clearance Authority headed by chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati on Friday accorded in-principle approval to five investment projects worth Rs 635 crore. While Pantaloon Fashion and Retail Ltd will set up a garment manufacturing plant at Mancheswar with a capacity of 28 lakh pieces per year, Indoroma Ventures Public Company Ltd, Singapore, will set up a manufacturing unit for the food and beverage products.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited will invest Rs 92 crore to set up a LPG bottling plant at Rayagada, JSW Cement Ltd will establish a cement plant at Kalinganagar and Parle Agro Pvt Ltd will set up an additional manufacturing unit at Khurda Food Park.
