Bhubaneswar, May 18: A 33-year-old human resource manager of an insurance company was today found dead under mysterious circumstances at his rented house in Nayapalli.
A native of Puri, Siddhartha Mishra's family members suspect foul play in the incident because of the circumstances in which they found the body. While his neck was tied with a piece of cloth to the ceiling fan, Mishra was found dead sitting in a chair holding his mobile phone. Besides, a number of food packets were also recovered from his room raising suspicion about the presence of more than one person.
The incident came to light when Biswajit Mohanty, who shared the house with Mishra, came to the room this morning and knocked on the door. He grew suspicious when there was no response despite repeated attempts.
"I knocked on the door several times at regular intervals but got no response. I immediately informed the Nayapalli police station," said Mohanty. He also added that last night he was at the house.
Crying foul play, relatives of Mishra said that he was recently promoted and posted in Guwahati. He was scheduled to leave for his new posting today.
Though inspector in-charge of Nayapalli police station Suryamani Pradhan suspected it to be a case of suicide, Mishra's relatives see Mohanty's involvement in the incident.
"We received a call from Mohanty's brother regarding the incident. But when we reached Bhubaneswar, both Mohanty and his brother did not pick up the phone. Mohanty had been changing his statement frequently regarding the presence of his younger brother in the house yesterday," said a relative of Mishra.
"He visited Puri yesterday and returned to Bhubaneswar the same day. I spoke to him yesterday and have asked whether he was taking his wife with him to Guwahati. He was quite normal and showed no signs of stress," Mishra's uncle Santosh Mishra said.
Mishra was married last year and had been staying in the rented accommodation for two years. As suspicion gathers over the death, police are waiting for the post-mortem.
"We have registered a case of unnatural death and have sent the body for post mortem," said Pradhan.
