Paralakhemundi, July 31: A junior engineer posted at the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) office in R. Udayagiri block of Odisha’s Gajapati district was allegedly served urine instead of drinking water by a peon, police said on Thursday.

As per reports, the incident occurred on July 23, when engineer Sachin Kumar Gouda, who had joined the RWSS office just a day earlier, requested the peon for drinking water.

According to the FIR filed by Gouda, the peon, identified as Siba Narayan Nayak, handed him a water bottle that allegedly contained urine. Gouda reportedly consumed the liquid and immediately felt uneasy. Two other staff members, Ghana and Surya, also tasted the contents to verify its nature and raised alarm over its foul smell and taste.

The sample was sent to a local lab, which detected 2.0 PPM (parts per million) of ammonia, raising strong suspicion of urine contamination. A second sample has been forwarded to Paralakhemundi for further testing.

R-Udaygiri Police registered a case and launched an investigation to determine whether the act was intentional or accidental.

The accused peon, however, claimed innocence, stating that he had brought water from an Aqua Guard and left the bottle in the engineer’s room along with food. “I don’t know what happened in between. I’ve left everything to God,” he said.

The engineer also approached the Odisha Water Resources Directorate and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and sought justice in this regard.

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