Berhampur, June 17: A tense situation prevailed when the body of Hari Krushna Nayak, a 29-year-old labourer, who used to work at a petroleum company in Oman and died there under mysterious circumstances on June 1, arrived at his native village Buxipalli in Ganjam district.

The body was brought to the country by an Air India cargo plane to Vishakhapatnam. However, the company's employee, who had received the body in Vishakhapatnam, went missing. An Andhra Pradesh police team has brought the body to the village, said Jaya Sahu, a friend of Nayak.

The villagers suspect foul play in the death of Nayak, a resident of Digipur village under Buxipalli panchayat in Rangeilunda block.

Following allegations, the district administration intervened and post-mortem was performed at MKCG Hospital here. Nayak used to work with Al Havida Petroleum Services Company as a labourer in Oman and stayed alone there. His wife Pinki gave birth to a baby boy at Digipur on June 6.

"The company officials said Nayak had been suffering from brain tumour and got hospitalised on May 16. His condition was serious on May 30 and he died on June 7," said the deceased's father, Ballav Nayak, who has remained confined to bed due to paralysis over the past four years.

But, the death certificate issued by the Hullah Hospital in Muscat showed that Nayak died on June 1. "The company officials lied to us about the date of death," Ballav said.