Bhubaneswar: An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of police was found hanging from a tree under mysterious circumstances in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district today.

The deceased has been identified as Renu Prasad Patnaik (59), an ASI of Tentulikhunti police in Nabarangpur.

Patnaik, a native of Tumbarla village in Papadahandi area, was staying at the Police Colony at Tentulikhunti.

Patnaik had gone to Nabarangpur district headquarters town on a work on Monday. However, he did not return home.

The police ASI was found hanging from a tree near a canal at Tentulikhunti today afternoon.

On being informed, police reached the spot and seized the body before launching a probe into the incident.

The body will be sent to the Nabarangpur District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) tomorrow for postmortem, said a police officer.

Preliminary investigation has suggested that Patnaik died by suicide. A scientific team and a sniffer dog will be pressed into service to solve the case, he added.