Bolangir: Mystery shrouds the death of jeweller and president of Bolangir Chamber of Commerce, Tripurari Panigrahi (60) whose body was found in a pool of blood on the railway tracks under Bijakhaman bridge near the Bolangir railway station in this district, Monday morning. Panigrahi, the proprietor of ‘Radhika Jewellers’, an ornament showroom here was also into real estate business.
Prior to setting up his own business, Panigrahi worked as a clerk in the regional transport office (RTO) and the local sub-collector’s office. Panigrahi took voluntary retirement from his government job before opening his own ornament shop. He was the president of the Bolangir Chamber of Commerce for more than a decade (since 2012) now. He is survived by his wife and two children, a son and daughter. The death of the bizman became public after locals spotted the body and informed the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel. The officials of the Railway police recovered the body and sent it for postmortem. “We have launched a probe into the case and are investigating all angles,” IIC GRP, Pravin Kuanr said. A case has been registered in this connection and further investigations are on, he added.
Various theories are doing the rounds regarding Panigrahi’s death. While preliminary inquires suggest that he might have died after falling from a moving train on the tracks, his family has a different opinion to offer. They said he was not scheduled to travel anywhere by train. Police also said that there were some external injury marks on Panigrahi’s body and hence foul play cannot be ruled out. Police are now waiting for the postmortem report. Panigrahi’s family meanwhile informed that he did not return home Sunday night and failed to inform about his whereabouts. They only got to know about his death when they were called to identify the body after being informed by GRP officials.
Locals pointed out that Panigrahi was doing very well both in the jwellery business as well as in real estate. They added that he had some rivals and hence did not rule out foul play. They alleged that Panigrahi could have been murdered and his body dumped on the tracks. It should also be stated that Panigrahi ended the dominance of a non-Odia group in the industry body since he took over as president in 2012. In 2016, the last time the elections to industry body were held, he had been unanimously elected. Since then due to various reasons including the spread of Covid-19, polls to the Chamber of Commerce were not conduct.
However, plans were afoot to conduct elections this year, sources said. Kishore Kumar Rath, vicepresident of Bolangir Chamber of Commerce demanded a highlevel inquiry into the case. He informed that there was no reason for Panigrahi to attempt suicide as he was quite successful in life. Meanwhile police after the post-mortem handed over the body to the deceased’s family. People from various walks of life visited Panigrahi’s residence to pay their last respects. Later, he was cremated at the Bibhutipada crematorium here.