Bhubaneswar: Social worker found dead by railway tracks

BHUBANESWAR: Aditya Dash, a well-known social worker, philanthropist and motivational speaker of the city, was found dead by the railway tracks near Lingaraj station on Tuesday.
The government railway police (GRP), based on prima facie investigation, said Dash, who had got married last month, had died of suicide by jumping before a oncoming train. Railway police said the motive of the suspected suicide was being ascertained.
“Dash’s wife told us that he had been depressed for the past few days, but she could not tell the cause of his depression.He left home on Monday night and did not return. His body was found on the tracks early this morning. We are trying to find out which train hit him, so that we can record the statement of the loco pilot,” Ramachandra Hati, a GRP officer said.
Dash and his wife Bidyashree lived in Sundarapada area on the outskirts of the city. His parents live in Boudh district.
While police said they would try to find out if there was any discord between the couple, Bidyashree dismissed all such speculation. ”He was the best husband. Ours was a love marriage. We had no marital discord. But he appeared very upset and scared for the past few days. When I asked him, he shouted at me and left home,” she told the media.
Police said Dash and Bidyashree together gave a pep talk on social media to people in distress on Monday morning. “We also found that he had posted a sad message on his Facebook page, where he talked about slow death. He had been posting pessimistic poems and messages on Facebook for the past few weeks,” the GRP officer said.
Dash along with some students had started an old-age home for the abandoned and deprived elderly in Sundarapada area in 2017. His sudden death shocked the community for which he was a messiah. “He treated me like his own father. When our own children disowned us, he gave us shelter. We do not know why god was unkind to the noble soul,” said B K Pradhan, an inmate of the home.
While Dash’s family members were not in the position to speak, his friends said police should investigate the case from all angles.
We found that Dash had posted a sad message on his Facebook page, where he talked about slow death