Balikuda, May 23: A 28-year-old businessman tragically drowned while bathing in the Devi River in Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha, on Saturday. The incident occurred at Machhagaon under Balikuda police limits.

The deceased has been identified as Sangram Parida, a resident of the locality who ran a business in Cuttack city. Reports said Sangram, an avid cricket enthusiast, had returned to his native village two days ago to represent his village cricket team in a tournament.

On the morning of the incident, Sangram, along with three other youths, went to the Devi River for a bath. He went missing after venturing into deep water. Local fishermen initially attempted to locate him but were unsuccessful.

Upon receiving the information, personnel from the Fire Brigade and Balikuda police launched a rescue operation. Sangram recovered after an hour and was rushed to Balikuda Community Health Centre (CHC), where doctors declared him dead.

The police have seized the body and sent it to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Jagatsinghpur for a postmortem after registering a case of unnatural death.