Dadra UT administrator among 9 booked for ‘role’ in MP’s suicide

In what could turn into a Centre versus state issue yet again, Mumbai Police has registered an FIR into the death of seven-time Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar. Praful Khoda Patel, the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, with 8 others, has been named in the FIR.

The FIR was lodged in the Marine Drive police station. The suicide of Mohan Delkar Patel has been booked under the provisions of Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

On 22 February, Delkar (58), a seven-time MP, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room of the Sea Green Hotel in Marine Drive in Mumbai. The Mumbai Police had initially registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR), which has now been converted into an FIR. The development comes a day after Delker’s wife Kalaben Delkar, son Abhinav Delkar and daughter had requested the Maha Vikas Aghadi government for thorough investigation.

An advocate for tribal rights, Delkar began his career as a trade union leader in Silvassa. Later, he started Adivasi Vikas Sangathan for the tribals in 1985. He had represented the seat seven times–the earlier being in 1989 as an Independent, 1991 and 1996 from the Congress, 1998 as a BJP candidate, 1999 as an Independent and in 2004 representing BharatiyaNavshakti Party, a political outfit floated by him. The Delkar family has accused Patel of harassing and humiliating Mohan Delkar.