Cuttack: People rightly say that death can come anytime, anywhere, anyway, and to anyone. A Hindu priest died minutes after performing the dashkriya rituals (10th-day rituals) of an elderly man in Kishannagar area of Cuttack district today.
One Ramesh Panda, a priest, reportedly performed the tenth-day rituals of an old man on the bank of Mahanadi River at Phulera village in Kishannagar area of the district today.
Soon after completing the rituals, Panda went to take bath in the river. However, he slept into the river and went missing.
Firefighters were called by the family members of the deceased elderly man to rescue Panda. However, by the time he was traced inside the water, Panda had already died. His body was recovered after a frantic search in the river.
Later, cops from Kishannagar police station went to the spot, seized the priest’s body, and sent it to the hospital for postmortem.
A pall of gloom descended on Phulera village following the death of Panda as he was a well-known priest and was loved by all and sundry in the locality.
Ms Kalinga