Palamu (Jharkhand), Sep 22 : Tension gripped Jharkhand's Palamu district on Monday after the body of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Jaishankar Thakur was recovered from an agricultural field in his native village.

Police, however, have not yet confirmed the cause of death, but his family has alleged that he was murdered and his body was partially burned with acid.

Thakur, 52, a resident of Utaki village under the Patan police station area, was serving as the Palamu district President of the RJD's Backward Class Cell.

According to family members, he left for his farmland around 6.30 a.m. on Monday, as part of his daily routine. When he failed to return home even after several hours, relatives launched a search and eventually found his body lying in a field about half a km away from the village.

Burn marks were visible on the body, leading to suspicions of acid being used to conceal evidence of foul play.

Patan police reached the spot after getting the information and initiated an investigation with the help of a dog squad.

However, officials said that no conclusive evidence was found during the preliminary search.

Station House Officer (SHO) Shashi Shekhar Pandey said that, on the face of it, the death could be the result of a lightning strike.

"The exact cause will be established only after the post-mortem report. We are investigating all angles," he said.

Villagers, however, strongly contested this theory. They pointed out that the weather had been clear on Monday and there had been no lightning activity in the area.

News of Thakur's death spread quickly, drawing large crowds from nearby villages to the site. With the situation becoming tense, additional police forces were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

Thakur is survived by three sons, one of whom lives abroad. His family has been left shattered by the incident and continues to insist that he was murdered.

Several RJD leaders from Jharkhand have expressed shock and grief over the death. They have called the circumstances surrounding the death as 'suspicious' and demanded a thorough and impartial probe.

/IANS