Bhubaneswar, May 8: Sadar police of Sundargarh district last night recovered a decomposed and disfigured body of a polling officer from a jungle near the town. The officer was missing since April 10.

The police identified the deceased as 44-year-old Dewani Mundhari, a peon of Jobaghat Upper Primary School in Bandhamunda of Rourkela.

He was a polling officer at a booth in Sadar area of Sundargarh town for the first phase of elections in the state held that was on April 10. He was found missing after submitting his report to the returning officer on the same day.

His family members staying in Bandhamunda area of Rourkela had lodged a complaint with Bandhamunda police station as well as with the Sadar police in Sundargarh, under which he had submitted his duty report.

The police said that Mundhari’s body was found in the Podajalang jungle around 5 kilometres away from the town. As elephants are active in this jungle, there has been a restriction on the movement of people within the forest limits.

“We have recovered the body but it is beyond identification. The deceased’s family members identified the body from the dress and other accessories.

The body has been sent to Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) Medical College and Hospital, Burla, for facial super imposition to establish the identity,” said Iti Das, inspector in charge of Sadar police station.

The police said that preliminary investigation had suggested that Mundhari was heavily drunk.

Those who had last seen him in the office of the sub-collector where he had gone to submit his report had found him to be drunk.

He might have entered into the jungle in an inebriated state and lost his way in the darkness.

The cause of his death would be clear after the report comes from the forensic medicine and toxicology department of the VSS Hospital. The police have registered a case of unnatural death and are looking into the matter.

“Besides, we have sought information from the sub-collector’s office regarding his duty and deployment on April 10. We are probing into all possible angles,” said a senior police officer.