Bhubaneswar: The half-burnt body of a youth was found in a roadside ditch in Odisha’s Nayagarh district today.

The body was found near Balisahi-Erundipathar road under Gania police limits in Nayagarh.

The deceased has been identified as Sanjay Pradhan (18), son of Rusia Pradhan, of Kandhameri village in Dholamara panchayat under Khandapada police limits.  

Some commuters reportedly spotted the body in the evening and informed police.

Soon, a team of the Gania police led by Inspector Tankadhar Chhatria rushed to the spot and recovered the body before sending it for postmortem.

The cops also seized a bottle of petrol, shoes and torn pieces of clothes from the spot.

Sanjay’s mother Dali Pradhan, meanwhile, lodged a complaint with the police and alleged that some miscreants killed her son and burnt his body.

According to his mother, the youth was working at a furniture shop in the capital city for last few days. He was scheduled to reach home for some work yesterday.

“The owner of the furniture shop called me over phone yesterday and told that Sanjay would reach home by evening. However, he did not reach home. Today, his half-burnt body was found in Gania area. Some people might have killed Sanjay and set the body on fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence,” said the deceased’s mother.