Bhubaneswar, Jan 14 (IANS): The decomposed body of a hotelier was found wrapped in a blanket at his residence in the Balianta area in Odisha's Bhubaneswar late Saturday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Biswajit Nayak, 43, of Sagua village in Balakati area under Balianta police limits. Biswajit has a restaurant in VSS Nagar area of Bhubaneswar.

It is suspected that an unknown miscreant murdered him and later wrapped his body in the blanket before fleeing from the spot.

Sources claimed that Biswajit’s father along with his second wife and sons stays in another house at the same village while the deceased’s mother has been residing in Puri.

“The deceased Biswajit was staying alone for the past two years after his wife reportedly eloped with another youth. His nine-year-old son has been studying at a residential school in Puri. On Saturday morning, the deceased’s younger brother who was working at Dhamra in Bhadrak district tried to contact his brother over phone but Biswajit neither picked up the phone nor replied to the messages sent by his brother,” said a police official.

Suspecting something wrong, the deceased's brother on Saturday evening reportedly asked his step brother staying in Bhubaneswar to check why the deceased wasn’t responding to his calls. His step brother who immediately rushed to the spot found putrid smell emanating from the room. Upon being informed, police reached the spot and recovered the body wrapped in the blood-stained blanket.

The police team along with the scientific team and dog squad have launched an investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, a 35-year-old woman who was reportedly staying at Biswajit’s house as a caretaker for the last around four months is absent for the last few days. Locals claimed that she was seen leaving the village on Friday.

“The body has some injury marks on the face but no stabbing injuries on any part of the body. We suspect that someone hit his forehead with a heavy object like a wooden log. The actual reasons for his death can only be ascertained after the receipt of the postmortem report. The investigation is on into the matter,” said Jubaraj Swain, the Inspector In-Charge (IIC) of Balianta police station.