City police say lengthy suicide note written in Gujarati mentions an ongoing case in Bombay HC, and alleged harassment by some govt officials
Mohan Delkar
An independent Member of Parliament from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mohan Delkar, was found hanging from the ceiling fan inside a room at a South Mumbai hotel on Monday evening. He had checked into the hotel on Sunday evening after he arrived in the city to attend to a court matter. Sources in the Mumbai police said that the lengthy suicide note, which has been recovered from the spot, mentions the names of some senior government officials whom Delkar has accused of harassment. It was Delkar’s driver who first found the body and the Marine Drive police were later informed.
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Delkar was found dead at Sea Green Hotel in Marine Drive. Pic/Suresh Karkera
However, the cops are still in the process of translating the matter in the note, which has been written in Gujarati. An officer from the Marine Drive police station told mid-day that Delkar reached Mumbai from Silvasa along with his driver Ashok Patel and bodyguard Nandu on Sunday evening.
“He booked a room at Sea Green Hotel in Marine Drive on Sunday. When his driver knocked on his door at 11 am on Monday, Delkar did not open it. Patel then alerted the hotel staff and his relatives, who tried to reach him over phone but Delkar did not respond to the calls,” the officer said.
“Around 1.50 pm the driver went to an adjacent room and jumped into the balcony of Delkar’s room, from where he spotted him hanging from the ceiling fan,” the officer added. Delkar’s driver went into the room from the balcony and opened the door from inside after which the police was informed. The police strictly instructed the hotel staff to not to touch anything and to not remove the body if it was still hanging. The police team reached the spot within minutes of receiving the call.
The cops broke open the door and rushed Delkar to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. “We have recovered a suicide note from the spot. Prima facie it seems to be a case of suicide but the actual cause of death will be ascertained from the autopsy report,” said spokesperson of Mumbai police S Chaitanya.
The Marine Drive police have registered an accidental death report and transferred the case to ACP, Colaba Division, Pandurang Shinde for further investigation. A police source said, “He had come to Mumbai to attend to a case in the High Court but he was facing some kind of pressure from some government officials.” The cops have recorded the statements of the driver, Delkar’s bodyguard and staffers of the hotel.
“If anyone has been particularly named in the suicide note, we will register an abetment of suicide case and thoroughly probe the matter. At present our investigation is based on the ADR,” said a senior police officer.
In a Youtube video released by Delkar last year, he said that he had raised multiple issues related to unemployment, daily wage workers, tribals’ apathy, forest land issues and other things related to tribals in Daman and Silvasa before the administration but he did not get any response. In the video, released on July 5 last year, Delkar said he was really upset about it, as he was targeted by the administration for raising the above issues.
In the video, Delkar is seen saying, “During lockdown around 500 labourers were removed from their jobs without any reasons. They were working in the PWD department. Their families were helpless and their kids were seen begging on roads. For extending roads, the administration demolished many houses in Daman.”
“I was falsely targeted in many cases and the police put pressure on me by filing FIRs without any evidence. Adivasi Bhavan, Adivasi Vikas Sangathan and my workers and supporters were also targeted and false FIRs were registered against them. I was told ‘upar se order hai’ [it’s an order from the higher-ups],” Delkar said in the video.
As Delkar is an MP, the Mumbai police will send the initial investigation details to the Parliament first and then to the administration of Dadra and Nagarhaveli.
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