Youth dies under mysterious circumstances at Bhubaneswar rehab centre, family alleges murder

Family members of a youth levied serious allegations of assault and murder following the death of their son under mysterious circumstances at a de-addiction and rehabilitation centre in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Prashant Nayak of Nayagarh district.

Sources reported that the youth was admitted to the rehab, situated in Madhav Nagar of Jharpada area, for the last several months and passed away this morning at the rehab centre while undergoing treatment. However, his family alleged that he was thrashed to death over non-payment of dues.

“A few days earlier, the in charge of the rehab said that we had to pay Rs 7,000 more as fees. We had already paid Rs 2 lakh and did not have any more money. I requested him to discharge my son but he refused,” claimed Nayak’s mother.

According to the family members, the rehab called them today, stating that Nayak had fallen unconscious and was being taken to the Unit-6 hospital. However, when they reached, a staff of the centre informed that he had died on the way.

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“I am very certain that they have beaten my son to death. He was a strong buy and was recovering well,” alleged the deceased’s father.

Meanwhile, the rehab staff who brought Prashant Nayak to the hospital refuted the allegations and claimed that he died of natural causes.

“Yesterday night his blood pressure shot up suddenly. We administered him some medicines and he was fine until this morning when he suddenly stopped responding. We rushed him to the hospital but doctors declared him dead,” the staff member added.

The rehab staff, however, did not clarify if Nayak had any pending dues claiming that only the owner has a record of the transactions.

Till the last reports, no police complaint was registered.

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Notably, a similar allegation was made against another de-addiction centre in Unit-6 last November where the family of a youth also alleged that he was thrashed to death and brought to the hospital with injury marks and under suspicious circumstances.