BERHAMPUR: Two home guard aspirants died and six others had to be hospitalised after a physical fitness test for the recruitment in Odisha’s Gajapati district Thursday.The death of Sulant Mishal (24), from Parisal village in Gajapati, and Deepak Padalu (27), from Narayanpur village in the same district, have raised the death toll during physical tests for govt jobs to five in the past two months.Police said Mishal had completed a 2-km run within 10 minutes and qualified for the next round of selection. However, minutes after finishing the test, he complained of uneasiness. He was rushed to Gajapati District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), where doctors declared him dead. Mishal’s father had died some years ago, and he was living with his mother, a labourer.“An autopsy was conducted, and the procedure was videographed in the presence of a magistrate. The cause of death will be known only after receiving the postmortem report,” said Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda.Police suspect Mishal may have underlying health conditions that were aggravated during the running test.Deepak, who became unconscious after participating in the test, died at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. He and six other candidates who fell ill were initially taken to DHH. Deepak was later shifted to Berhampur after his condition deteriorated in the afternoon. He died in the evening.Though the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the postmortem, doctors suspect he may have died of a heart attack. All those hospitalised had complained of muscle cramps and body pain. Of the remaining six, three were discharged, and three are still in hospital.
