Bhubaneswar, July 10: The Khandagiri police today recovered the body of an unidentified young girl from roadside near an engineering college at Ghatikia on the city outskirts.

The local residents said they had found the body of a girl, aged around 22, with several wounds on her body. “We had informed the Khandagiri police who made a spot inspection,” said Dhaneswar Mallick, a local resident, adding that the girl wore salwar kameez.

The residents believed that someone might have killed the girl and dumped her body in the area. “We also fear that she might have been raped and killed elsewhere and the body was disposed of here,” said Biswonath Pradhan, another local resident, adding that the girl seemed to be a student.

However, the Khandagiri police said it was not clear whether the girl had been murdered or it was a case of unnatural death. “The circumstantial evidence showed that she might have fallen from a vehicle and died on the spot,” said a police officer, adding that an unnatural death case had been registered.

A police officer said the girl might have come with someone and after she had fallen from the vehicle, the driver might have fled from the spot out of fear. “But, we are not ruling out the murder angle,” said the officer.

However, the major concern for the police is to identify the girl. “We have kept the body in the Capital Hospital morgue. We are waiting for the girl’s family members to come and identify her. Then we will sent the body for post-mortem,” said a police officer.

Ten days ago on July 1, the Khandagiri police had recovered the body of an unidentified youth from roadside at Nuagaon near Malipada on the city outskirts. The 28-year-old youth’s body had several wounds on his body and there were marks on his hands and legs, indicating that he had been tied before being murdered. While the local residents were suspecting murder, the police had registered an unnatural death case.

Two months ago, the Chandaka police had recovered the body of another youth from a bush near a private college at Malipada. The youth’s body had started decomposing, as it had been lying there for more than five days.

The police could not establish the identity of the deceased and registered an unnatural death case.

The area was on the city outskirts with several villages and long patches of lonely zones and the roadsides are filed with bushes. It was easy for criminals to dispose of a body here, said a senior police officer.