Balasore: Mystery shrouds the death of a 28-year-old man who was burnt alive.

The deceased has been identified as Bhabani Shnkar Jena, a native of Senapati village in Ananadapur block of Keonjhar district. The incident took place in the early hours at Balibilla village near Aradbazar on the town outskirts.

Bhabani, who worked at a private company in Balasore, stayed alone in that house.

Apart from the victim, all his belongings, including bed and motorcycle, were reduced to ashes.

Fire brigade personnel broke open the locked door and entered the room before being able to douse the flames.

Assistant fire officer Pravat Mohapatra said: "Before we could access the room, the victim had already died. The grill gate of the house was locked. We had a lot of problems in reaching the spot because there was hardly any room on the road for vehicles to go in."

"The reason of the fire is yet to be ascertained but it appears a leaking cooking gas cylinder could have caused it. We believe there was a gas leak and it might have caught fire from a spark when the victim operated some electrical switch. There could be other reasons too," he said, adding that they received information after a neighbour informed them about the accident around 4am.

A neighbour said after he heard the victim's screams, they saw fire and thick smoke emanating from the house. But they could do little because the house was locked from the inside.

Inspector in charge of Sahadevkhunta police station Jayant Behera said: "A case of unnatural death has been registered. However , we are looking into other angles too."

The deceased was a bachelor and had been staying in the house for the past nine months.