Mohapatra, editor of the Oriya-language newspaper Aji Kagoj, disappeared on November 8. His body was discovered the next day on the side of the NH-42 national highway near the village of Bhagirathipur in the eastern state of Odisha (which at the time was known as Orissa) with his hands and legs tied and with a head wound, the Press Trust of India (PTI), a national newswire service, reported. Local journalists confirmed the murder but knew of no specific motive.