Bhubaneswar, Jan. 24: A 40-year-old business executive was today found shot dead in his car parked near National Highway 5 on the outskirts of the capital.

The deceased was identified as Debashis Mohanty, a resident of Laxmi Sagar, who was area manager at the Bapuji Nagar office of First Flight Courier Services Ltd.

Although the motive behind the murder could not be ascertained immediately, sources said Debashis had professional rivalry with some people, which might have led to the crime.

According to police, Debashis, father of two, was shot dead from point blank range. He received bullet wounds that ruptured his urethra causing his death.

Policemen at the Janla outpost were told about a body lying in an abandoned car behind Maa Bhuasuni Girls’ High School in Ogalapada this morning.

On reaching the spot, police found Debashis’s body lying in the car’s back seat. There was not much blood inside the car. “The murderers might have killed him elsewhere and left him in the car here. It appears there were more than two killers,” said a police officer.

Relatives of the deceased said Debashis and his family had gone to attend a wedding in Jaydev Vihar yesterday evening. While he was there, he got a call and left, telling his family members he would return soon. When he did not, his family members started looking for him, but could not trace him.

Around midnight, his wife received a call from Debashis’s cell phone. “The person speaking on the phone was not Debashis. The man sounded drunk. He said our son had done something wrong and would not be spared. He also demanded money. When he was asked to hand over the phone to Debashis, he disconnected the line,” said Lili Pattnaik, aunt of the deceased.

Debashis’s colleagues said he was an amiable man with no enemies.

His family members, however, said that a few months ago a courier consignment worth Rs 25 lakh was looted and Debashis had lodged a complaint. The office staff had nothing to say on this.

Sources close to the courier company, however, said Debashis had professional rivalry with some persons. Police have sent the body for post-mortem.

Debashis, who had worked 19 years for the courier service company, was living with his mother, brother, wife and two kids. One of his brothers had recently died of illness.