Bhubaneswar, June 12: A 50-year-old chemical engineer committed suicide by jumping from the rooftop of the directorate building, commonly known as Natala, this afternoon.
Police said the deceased, identified as Pratap Chandra Swain, a native of Nilagiri in Balasore district, had been undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, for acute body pain.
Swain, who worked with a private company in Surat, died on the spot.
"I heard a sound and thought some debris might have fallen as repair of the building is in progress. But when I looked out of the window, I saw a man lying on the ground," said an employee working in the building.
A senior police officer said Swain had returned to his native place three moths ago and with the problem of body ache. "His family members had initially suspected witchcraft but later consulted a doctor. For the past one month, he had been staying with his in-laws at Nayapalli," said the police oficer.
While Swain's relatives never allowed him to go outside alone, he slipped out today.
"We found a note on him, saying he was unable to bear the pain and no one was responsible for his death. We have sent the body for post-mortem," said inspector in charge of Capital police station Manas Ranjan Garanaik.
An employee working in the building said that in 2010, a section officer had committed suicide by jumping from the rooftop. "The door to the roof should be locked," said an employee.
Imposter held
Police today arrested a 24-year-old youth for impersonating as a captain of the India Army and applying for a loan of Rs 5 lakh from a private bank at Saheed Nagar in the city.
The accused was identified as Jagannath Parida of Aska in Ganjam district.
The police have seized a fake identity card, which identified him as a captain of the Army Ordnance Corps, Secunderabad, with December 17, 2010 as his joining date. The cops have seized army seals and several voter identity cards from him.
"The bank officials had alerted the police after finding his behaviour suspicious. We laid a trap and arrested him today," said inspector in charge of Saheed Nagar police station Deepak Kumar Mishra.
