Body of engineering student found under mysterious circumstances in Odisha’s Rayagada

Rayagada: An engineering student is said to have died today by committing suicide in the hostel of a private college in Rayagada town of this district. However, the actual cause of death has not been ascertained yet.

The deceased has been identified as 19-year-old Pritam Pradhan from Bargarh district.

According to police sources, Pritam was a 3rd-year student of the Agriculture Department at MITS Engineering College of Bhujabala locality under Kolnara block and Chandili police limits. Pritam took the extreme step by hanging himself with the help of a long cloth.

On being informed, a police team reached the college and initiated a probe into the mishap. Police have recovered the body of Pritam and sent it to district headquarters hospital (DHH) in Rayagada for post-mortem.

“The body will be handed over to Pritam’s family after the inquest is over,” the source informed.

“Pritam had his breakfast as usual on Sunday morning and later he went to his hostel room. His classmates went to attend the classes but he did not. After the classes were over, they returned and saw Pritam’s room closed from the inside. As he did not respond for quite a long time, the classmates informed the hostel warden about it. Warden immediately reached the room and knocked on its door. Still, there was no response. Hence, the warden informed local police,” Chandili IIC Jashobant Hial stated.

“We entered the room after breaking open its door and found the boy hanging from the ceiling fan. Preliminary investigation suggests that it is a case of suicide. However, the actual cause of death can only be ascertained after a post-mortem report comes in,” the IIC said.

Meanwhile, Pritam’s father Birendra Pradhan along with some relatives has reached Rayagada town. As today is a holiday, the deceased student’s post-mortem will be done on Monday, the IIC added.