The Free Press Journal

7-term MP found hanging

- SACHIN GAAD / Mumbai

A seven-term member of Parliament (MP) from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mohan Delkar, 58, is alleged to have committed suicide at a hotel on Marine Drive on Monday morning. He was found hanging in his hotel room on the fifth floor of the sea-facing Sea Green South Hotel. Delkar was an Independen­t MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Police have recovered a six-page suicide note written in Gujarati. According to sources, in the note he is reported to have named some officials from Dadra & Nagar Haveli, but the police refused to divulge details.

"Prime facie it is suspected to be a case of suicide. We have also found a suicide note from the spot. However, the exact cause of death will be clear after the post-mortem examinatio­n. Assistant Commission­er of Police (ACP), Colaba division, will carry out further investigat­ion,'' said Mumbai Police spokespers­on DCP S Chaitanya.

Following the incident, the Marine Drive police have registered an accidental death report and begun investigat­ion. The incident came to light on Monday morning when Delkar failed to respond to multiple calls from his family. The hotel staff also tried to reach him. However, when he did not respond to the doorbell, they alerted police. According to the officials, his driver entered the room from balcony and found Delkar hanging from the fan with a shawl, said the police. Dalker had checked into the hotel on Sunday. The police sent his body for post mortem and a forensic team was summoned for assistance. The joint commission­er of police (law and order), Vishwas Nangare Patil, also came to the spot. Delkar is survived by wife, a son and a daughter. In May 2019, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the seventh time. He had begun his career as a trade union leader in Silvassa and was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989 on a Congress ticket from Dadra and Nagar Haveli constituen­cy.

In 1998, he was elected on a BJP ticket but rejoined the Congress in 2009. However, he lost the elections in 2009 and 2014. In 2019, he contested the seat as an Independen­t candidate and won. He was also a member of the standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice and a member of the consultati­ve committee, Ministr y of Home Affairs, Lower House.

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