A day after MP Mohan Delkar was found hanging in a room at Hotel Sea Green South in Marine Drive, his bodyguard Nandu Wankhede told The Indian Express that Delkar had been depressed for the last few days.
Wankhede said, “He was visibly tense over the last few days. He never told us what exactly he was going through, but we could make out while talking to him that he was depressed.”
He said they had come to Mumbai on Sunday and checked into the hotel around 9 pm. “I was in his room and saw him writing something. He later asked me to leave as he said he wanted to study. Driver Ashok Patel remained with him till 1 am. He told me that sir (Delkar) kept writing until he left. We now believe it was the suicide note,” said Wakhede, adding that police found two envelopes in which Delkar kept his 15-page note. The police suspect that Delkar ended his life early Monday.
Preliminary statements of the bodyguard and driver were recorded by police. Sources in the police said the MP in his suicide note had written about the harassment that he and his close associates were facing from the local administration. The police said the driver and bodyguard would be called again to record detailed statements.
The note, in Gujarati, was penned on Delkar’s official letterhead, the sources said. The police said they have called a handwriting specialist to ascertain whether it is Delkar’s handwriting.
Without divulging names, investigators said Delkar had mentioned several people including a senior politician and bureaucrats. Police were tightlipped on whether they would summon them for recording statements.
In a widely circulated video, Delkar’s son Abhinav said “many people” were responsible for his father’s decision to take his own life. He urged the Maharashtra government and police to take stern action against them.
Delkar was found hanging in a room on the fifth floor by his driver and bodyguard on Monday afternoon. The post mortem, conducted by a panel of doctors, confirmed that he died due to hanging, said an officer. His body was handed over to the family late on Monday. It was taken to his house in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Final rites were conducted at a crematorium in Dadra and Nagar Haveli on Tuesday evening.
The police said they are yet to record the statement of his family members. “The grieving family wanted to conduct finals rites first. We will be calling them after the rituals are over,” said an officer.
Marine Drive have registered the case as accidental death report.
