Odisha official due to join new govt job found dead at home

Police said Mahapatra locked himself up in a room of his house on Sunday following a quarrel. When he did not open the door despite repeated calls, his wife called some of their neighbours.

A newly-recruited official of the Odisha government was found dead in his house in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, a day before he was supposed to join his duties, police said on Monday.

The man was immediately rushed to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where doctors pronounced him dead. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Officials said Abhilash Swaroop Mahapatra, a 35-year-old official in Odisha Finance Service cadre, was supposed to join duty at the treasury office on Monday.

They said Mahapatra locked himself up in a room of his house on Sunday following a quarrel. When he did not open the door despite repeated calls, his wife called some of their neighbours.

He was immediately rushed to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where doctors pronounced him dead.

Mahapatra, a native of Titlagarh in Bolangir district, earlier worked with a bank and was recruited in the OFS cadre a few months ago.

The OFS officer’s body was handed over to his family after a post-mortem examination and the last rites were performed in Puri’s Swargadwar.