Odisha: Co-op society president’s blood-stained body found; murder suspected

Bhadrak (Odisha): The blood-stained body of the president of a cooperative society and former sarpanch of Bandhagain panchayat was found in a paddy field in Odisha's Bhadrak district on Wednesday morning, police said.

According to a police officer, Chittaranjan Rout's body was found near the Panchapada-Bandhagain village road, within the limits of Bhadrak rural police station. Rout, aged 53, was a resident of Bandhagain village.

Santosh Nayak, a neighbour of the deceased, said Chittaranjan had gone to Panchpada village on Tuesday evening to attend a death anniversary ritual.

"When he didn't return home last night, his brother Manaranjan Rout began searching for him. He eventually found Chittaranjan's body in a paddy field along the roadside," Nayak said.

Upon receiving information, Bhadrak rural police arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation.

Preliminary investigations suggest that Chittaranjan might have been murdered.

The police officer said there were four injury marks on his body, and both his motorcycle and mobile phone were missing.

Bhadrak DSP Anshuman Diwedi said the body had been sent for postmortem.