The decomposed body of a school employee, who had gone missing after performing poll duty on April 10 last, was found from Puda Jalanga jungle under the Sundargarh Sadar police station on Wednesday. His body was sent to Burla for forensic test on Thursday by the police.
Sources said Dewan Mundari (52), a Class-IV employee of the Jawaghat Government High School, Rourkela, was engaged in election work as a fifth polling officer. He had left Rourkela on April 8 for Sundargarh.
From the Sundaragrh Women’s College, he went along with other members in his polling team to the polling booth. Harmohan Jena, Assistant Professor, NIT, Rourkela, was the presiding officer in the team. After polling, the entire team members got back to Sundargarh to submit the polling materials on 10 April evening.
At Sundargarh, Mundari told Jena he was going to a hotel to take some food and since then got disappeared. Waiting for a few days, School Headmaster Himadri Mahant and Mundari’s son Rajni Khadi had met the Sundargarh sub-collector and lodged complaints in the Sundargarh town police station.
The family members also had complained at the Bondhamunda Police Station and urged the Rourkela SP and Sundargarh Collector to take adequate steps to trace Mundari. But, on Wednesday, the forest department workers found Mundari’s dead body in Puda Jalanga jungle. From a wrist watch and clothes, Mundari’s son Rajni identified the body. Rs800 was also found from his pocket.