Bhubaneswar, Aug 29 (IANS): A 30-year-old man was killed after splinters of a shell fired from a defence base in Odisha's Balasore district hit him, police said Friday.

The incident took place at the prohibited area of Proof and Experiment Establishment (PXE), a unit of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Chandipur, about 250 km from state capital Bhubaneswar Thursday.

It was not clear if the man, Sukumar Dalai, a native of nearby Tundura village, had gone for fishing or to collect the shells, inspector-in-charge of Marine police station Chitta Ranjan Nayak told IANS.

Autopsy done on the body Friday shows he died on the spot after the splinters hit his left shoulder, Nayak said.

The defence unit tests shells of various caliber at regular intervals. Some poor people of the nearby area often enter into the prohibited area risking their lives and collect the exploded and unexploded shells to extract metals.

They eke out a living by selling them in the local market, he said.