Sundargarh, July 18(OT Webdesk): In a deeply unsettling development, Dr. Salila Panda, a veteran AYUSH practitioner posted at Runagaon Primary Health Centre (PHC), was found dead under suspicious circumstances early Friday morning.
Sources indicate she failed to wake up, prompting her husband to rush her to Badagaon hospital, where she was declared brought dead.
Preliminary suspicion points to a possible sleeping pill overdose, although official confirmation is pending.
Police have registered an unnatural death case based on an FIR lodged by her family, who have not alleged foul play.
The body has been seized for forensic examination, and authorities await the post-mortem report.
Badagaon SDPO Bibhuti Bhusan Bhoi stated, “Dr. Panda had served here for over a decade. Current evidence doesn’t indicate foul play, but we’re awaiting forensic clarity.”
The incident has cast a shadow over Sundargarh’s healthcare fraternity and reignited conversation around the mental health of rural medical professionals facing chronic stress and isolation.
