Bhubaneswar, Feb. 18: Khandagiri police recovered the body of a 68-year-old man from his house at Kalinga Nagar this evening.

The victim, Balaram Sahu, a former assistant general manager of Uco Bank was living alone. His five married daughters are living outside the state while his wife had passed away a few years ago.

A relative of Sahu, Sanjukta Prusti said she had talked to the deceased on Saturday, but his mobile phone was switched off soon after. “This evening, I came to know that he was murdered,” said Prusti.

Preliminary investigation revealed that a property related dispute was going on. The victim owned a land plot of around 40 decimal near Sampur in the same locality, which was a bone of contention between him and a group of local people.

“On January 22, he had been attacked with sharp weapons and lodged a complaint with the police. But, the police did not take any immediate step and that resulted in his death,” alleged the relative.

Officials of Khandagiri police station also admitted that the deceased had a land dispute with some local people and that he had lodged a complaint in this regard.

The police suspected that the deceased had been murdered more than 48 hours ago. As he was residing alone in his house, none could come to know about his death.

“His body was found lying on the floor of his house with hands and legs tied with wires. There were deep scar marks on his neck and body. It seemed the goons had tied him up, beat him brutally and strangulated him to death by a wire or a rope,” said a senior police officer, who had visited the spot in the evening.

Sahu’s neighbours became suspicious and informed police as they found that the lights in his house were not switched off for the past two days.

“He was staying here alone. He interacts with us regularly whenever he gets time. But for the past two days, we had not seen him. The front door of his house was closed, but the lights were on during daytime. We suspected something foul and informed the police,” said a neighbour.

“These people might be involved in the murder,” said a senior police officer.

Senior police officers, including police commissioner Sunil Roy and deputy commissioner Nitinjeet Singh, had visited the spot. The scientific team of the police rushed to the spot to collect fingerprints and other clues.

Residents of Kalinga Nagar had been complaining about frequent crimes in that area. Last year, a group of senior citizens had even met the police commissioner, demanding security for them following which the police commissioner advised them to start community policing.

Several senior citizens, who were living alone in the city, had been murdered in the past, creating ripples across the city.