Police on Sunday launched a probe after bodies of two youth were fished out from a pond at Shyamsundarpur area in Kendrapara district. The deceased have been identified as Subrat Jena and Sanatan Patnaik. Both of them hail from Talagaon village.
The exact reason behind the deaths is unclear as it is suspected that the youths who were travelling on a motorcycle slipped into the pond following some accident.
The duo reportedly had gone for a picnic on New Year and was untraceable since last night. The two-wheeler has also been recovered from the pond. As per reports, Subrat is a tractor driver and had left home at around 12 noon yesterday with his friends. He had informed the family about the get-together and had assured to return by evening.
Though Subrat’s family managed to contact him at around 8 pm yesterday, they could not establish any communication over phone after that. A search operation was subsequently launched by the family, but in vain.
“We had lost contact with Subrat after 8 pm. He had informed that he would be returning by evening. Though we tried to contact him, his mobile phone was switched off,” said Nidhiram Jena, deceased Subrat’s father.
It was only in the morning that a group of passers-by spotted the bodies floating in the pond and alerted police. The bodies were subsequently fished out with assistance from the Odisha Fire Services personnel.
A senior police official said that the exact reason behind the deaths will be clear after the autopsy.