The body of Manish Anurag Das, the elder son of senior journalist Navin Das, was recovered under mysterious circumstances from a pond at Patrapada on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Sunday afternoon. Manish had reportedly gone missing from a location under Infocity police limits on Saturday.
It is alleged that he was abducted by two persons in a car from Infocity area. The abductors had also made a ransom call to the family members, sources said.
Whether Manish was murdered by the two youths, who later dumped his body in the pond, is still unclear. Meanwhile, his body was sent to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for autopsy and further investigation is underway, police said.
DCP Bhubaneswar, Umashankar Dash said that the deceased’s last location was traced near Infocity police limits. “The youth had made a call to his family members and informed that he was with two youths. Later, the family members claimed to have picked up a ransom call.”
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The body of Manish was found floating by some local residents at around 1 pm today. Later, local police and senior officials of Commissionerate Police including Bhubaneswar DCP reached the spot for investigation.
“Two villagers pulled the body to the shore and later we informed the police. We found some blood oozing out from nose and ear of the deceased. Some residents had seen two cars moving around the vicinity of the spot for several times in the wee hours today,” narrated a local resident.
According to Dash, a missing case was registered at Infocity police and another case has been registered in connection with the recovery of a body at Patrapada.
“We are investigating the case as there are allegations of abduction and ransom. We are trying to ascertain how the deceased came to the spot and a special team comprising officers from Infocity, Tomando police station and a Special Squad has been formed to probe into the case,” Dash added.
Senior officials said that all the CCTV cameras around the spot where Manish’s body was recovered are being thoroughly examined.