Summary:
Behera’s body was recovered near a canal on Wednesday, after which his family members and relatives claimed that he had committed suicide. Behera’s family members said the deceased, who was in his mid-thirties, faced a debt burden of over Rs 1.5 lakh. BJP leader and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who visited Behera’s village and met his family members, termed the incident a “government-sponsored murder and not a suicide”. A video, purportedly shot by the deceased — Laxmidhar Behera — before taking the extreme step, went viral on social media. “This shows how sincere Naveen Patnaik is for the development of the state and fighting corruption,” he added..