Police recovered the body of an octogenarian man from a deep forest in Dasharam Para under Singirbil ADC Village in Kailashahar of Unakoti district on Saturday, triggering tension in the locality. A forensic team also visited the spot along with personnel from Kailashahar police station.
According to reports, at around 12:30 pm on Saturday, some villagers went into the forest to collect firewood. Near an abandoned pond, they spotted a body and immediately informed Kailashahar police. Police rushed to the spot but initially could not identify the deceased. Members of a forensic team subsequently arrived to examine the scene.
As news of the recovery spread on social media, several youths, including Niranjan Das of Kulesh Nagar village under Ward No. 1 of Gokul Nagar Gram Panchayat in the Fatikroy police station area, reached the spot at around 3 pm and identified the body as that of his father, Radhakanta Das (87).
According to Niranjan, his father had been missing for four days. Radhakanta, a betel-leaf seller by profession, had reportedly stopped running his business around 10 years ago due to prolonged illness.
Niranjan said his father had left home at around 7 am on Wednesday, October 7, for his usual morning walk but did not return. After searching for him without success until the afternoon, the family lodged a missing-person report at Fatikroy police station that evening.
He also stated that his father had been suffering from some degree of mental distress.
Police recovered the body and sent it to Unakoti District Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Following the autopsy, the body was handed over to the family on Saturday evening, after which relatives took it home for the last rites. Radhakanta Das is survived by his wife and two sons.
However, blood marks were reportedly visible on the deceased’s head, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding his death. How the elderly man died near an abandoned pond deep inside the forest remains unclear. The exact cause of death is yet to be established.