Berhampur: A five-year-old boy was killed and three of his family members injured when a large chunk of concrete plaster fell on them from the ceiling of their house in Punanda village in Ganjam's Seragada block early on Wednesday.

"The boy who was killed was identified as Priyanshu Nayak, 5, younger son of labourer Simanchal Nayak, family members said. Simanchal, 30, wife Babita, 27, and elder son Himanshu, 8, have been injured in the incident and admitted to Hinjili hospital about 8km away from Punanda village," said Seragada block development officer Suranjan Sahu.

Sahu visited the house of the victims on Wednesday and handed over Rs 2,000 to the family members of Simanchal for cremation of Priyanshu. The money was given under the Harischandra Yojana.

The couple and two children were sleeping on the floor when the chunk of concrete plaster fell on them at around 2am on Wednesday.

All were shifted to Hinjili hospital by the relatives and villagers. Priyanshu had suffered head injury and dies on the way to the hospital, said a relative.

Simanchal said that he had repaired the ceiling of his house recently. "The house is about 15-years-old and had developed cracks at several places in the ceiling," he said.

Simanchal's relatives cremated Priyanshu in the village crematorium at 11.30am on Wednesday, even before Seragada police could reach the spot to take the body for post mortem.

Inspector in-charge of Seragada police station Biswaranjan Nayak is outside the state to investigate a murder case.

"If the body has been cremated without informing the police, we will definitely register a case against those involved," said a senior police officer. A relative of the child said: "As Priyanshu had died in the house, we decided not to file any complaint with the police and cremated his body."

Youth held

Police on Wednesday arrested a youth allegedly for circulating video of his intimate moments with a minor tribal girl for which the later had committed suicide by hanging herself in a forested area on Tuesday in Nabarangpur district. The arrested youth has been identified as Jagannath Gouda, 20, a resident of Mundiguda village.

House gutted

A house in Samantasingharpur village in Mahakalapada police jurisdiction was gutted on Wednesday following Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder blast. The blast led to the outbreak of fire and all household articles were reduced to ashes. However, family members escaped unhurt.

Gas leak from the cylinder was ascertained as the cause of the fire mishap, police said.