Balasore, March 16: A judicial officer was found dead at her official residence in Odisha’s Balasore district last night.

The deceased, Anupama Behera, 32, was a process inspector at the Balasore judge’s court. She was promoted to the rank of a sub-judge recently and had been transferred to Koraput. She was about to join the new post next week.

Lawyers of the district headquarters town skipped work today and demanded that the culprits be arrested immediately.

“I was very happy to learn about her promotion. But the news of her death was a shock. My son, an advocate in Supreme Court, is coming from Delhi today,” said the deceased’s father Antaryami Behera, a retired senior manager of Coal India.

The death presumably took place late on Thursday night after the peons who helped Behera in domestic work and packing luggage left.

“Prima facie evidences suggest it is a case of murder. We are interrogating some people,” said Balasore superintendent of police Amrita Dash.

Yesterday, Behera neither attended office nor responded to calls, said her office staff. They grew suspicious when they found the gate of her official residence locked from outside.

However, a foul smell emanating from the house drew the attention of the neighbours. They peeped in through the rear window and saw the judicial officer lying motionless on a bed with a pillow over her face.

When the police arrived, the stench convinced them that Behera was dead.

Despite suspecting that the judicial officer was dead, the cops did not venture into the house last night and waited till today to open the lock in the presence of a magistrate. District judge V. Jayshree and several other judicial officers were present during the investigation.

“Injury marks around her thighs and neck suggest she struggled before her death. It appears to be a case of strangulation,” said Pinaki Patnaik, the inquest magistrate.

The deceased’s husband, Sukanta Jena, is a doctor posted at Kanasa Community Health Centre in Puri district. The couple’s three-year-old son stays with the deceased’s parents.

“I last talked to her on Wednesday,” said Jena.

The police are yet to ascertain the motive of the murder. “We have got some clues. Hopefully, we will arrest the culprits soon,” said inspector in charge of Sahadevkhunta police station Manoj Rout.

Members of the district bar association have ceased work. “We won’t work till the culprits are brought to book,” said association president Niranjan Panda.