Missing female cricketer found dead in Odisha forest

The cricketer from the Puri district was sad about not being selected for the 16-member team for a national-level tournament to be held in Puducherry. She was last seen on January 11 and could not be reached over the phone.

Cuttack: The body of a 26-year-old woman cricketer Rajashree Swain, who was missing since January 11, was found inside a dense forest under mysterious circumstances here on Friday. The police retrieved her scooter abandoned near the forest. "A case of unnatural death has been registered in the matter. We found her body in the Gurudijhatia forest in the Athagarh area. We will probe the death from all angles," Deputy Commissioner of Police Pinak Mishra said.

The cause of Swain's death will be clear once the post-mortem report arrives, Mishra added. The cricketer from the Puri district was here to attend a training camp organised by the Odisha Cricket Association for an upcoming national-level tournament in Puducherry. Swain, however, failed to clinch a place in the 16-member team selected for the tournament.

"She was seen crying on Wednesday evening after the names of team members were announced, and went missing from the hotel, where we all were put up for the training session shortly after," said Swain's roommate. A missing complaint was lodged at the local Mangalabag police station in Cuttack city by coach Pushpanjali Banerjee, after Swain could not be reached over the phone.

Her family members alleged that Swain, a right-arm fast bowler, and a middle-order batter, was murdered "as the body bore injury marks and her eyes were damaged." They also claimed that Swain was refused a berth in the team despite performing better than many others who have been selected.

Refuting the allegations leveled by the cricketer's family, Subrat Behera, the CEO of the association, said the selection was done in a very transparent manner, expressing shock over the demise of the cricketer. "If there was prejudice, how is that she found a place in the 25-member probable team, which attended the camp," Behera added.

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