TV actor Sameer Sharma found dead, suicide suspected
Mumbai: Television actor Samir Sharma, best known for his roles in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Left Right Left , was found dead in his home in suburban Malad where he lived alone, police said on Thursday.
The 44-year-old was found hanging from the fan of the kitchen on Wednesday night, police officials said. He may have been dead for two days before he was found, they said.
"We have not found any suicide note at the spot. It seems to be suicide case. It is suspected that he hanged himself two days back. We have sent the body for an autopsy," Malad police station's senior inspector George Fernandes said.
Sharma, who also worked in serials such as Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki , Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyar Ke and Wo Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki , lived in a rented flat in Chincholi Bunder locality in Malad (West).
His body was discovered by the building's watchman, who peeped through the kitchen window and saw him hanging. He then alerted members of the society who informed the police.
Police rushed to the spot and took Sharma to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, another official said. Efforts were on to get in touch with the family of the actor, who had been living alone since February, he said.
Based on primary information, an Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered, Fernandes said, adding that further investigations are underway.
On July 27, Sharma posted his last words on Instagram with a poem on death and dreams.
I built my pyre and slept on it and with my fire it was lit. And all that was me I burned in it. I killed my dream to wake up from it. Now my dream is gone, he wrote on his page.
After that, he posted some photographs but no written content. His bio on Instagram reads Actor. Writer. Poet and mostly has shots of beaches and videos of him driving to scenic places.
Sharma's death comes at a time the entertainment industry is reeling from the shock of the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14. Rajput's death, which will now be investigated by the CBI, exposed many faultlines in the industry.
"Depression is a lonely disease," Sharma had posted after Rajput's death.
Biopolar Disorder, Depression, and Schizophrenia etc. do you know or understand what that means or feels like? No you don't, unless you've been through it yourself. And anybody who hasn't, will never ever be able to understand what that feels like, he wrote on July 22.
Bollywood star Sidharth Malhotra, who worked with Sharma in Hasee toh Phasee , condoled the actor's death. Sharing a picture with Sharma from the film, Malhotra wrote, Really sad and unfortunate #RIPSameerSharma.
Actor Varun Dhawan also shared a picture on his Instagram stories and wrote #RIPSameerSharma .
On June 9, Rajput's former manager Disha Salian jumped from a high-rise building. The month earlier, on May 15, TV actor Manmeet Grewal had hanged himself at his Mumbai home.
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AI-powered robotic canal cleaning system commissioned in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) (PTI): In a major step to phase out manual scavenging and ensure the safety of sanitation workers, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation commissioned G-Spider, an AI-powered robotic canal-cleaning system, at the Amayizhanchan canal near the railway station premises at Thampanoor here, officials said on Thursday.
The system was launched by Minister for Local Self-Governments MB Rajesh at a function presided over by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor VV Rajesh on Wednesday.
The AI-powered canal cleaning project is a joint initiative of the city corporation and Technopark-based Genrobotic Innovations, which developed Bandicoot, a robotic scavenger.
As per the agreement, Genrobotics will bear the full cost of deploying the robotic system, while the corporation will supervise its operation and maintenance.
Speaking at the event, the minister said Genrobotics has set an example of how innovative ideas can be transformed into impactful entrepreneurship.
He said that of the seven compressed biogas (CBG) plants to be commissioned in the state for solid waste management, one will be set up in the state capital.
Rajesh said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Rs 100-crore CBG plant at Brahmapuram in Kochi on February 28, adding that 90 per cent of the nine lakh metric tonne of accumulated waste at the site has already been removed.
He further said work on the Palakkad plant will be completed in February, while construction of another plant in Thrissur is progressing, and a plant at Changanassery is in the pipeline.
The minister added that the construction of four sanitary plants will be inaugurated next week.
In his address, the mayor reiterated the corporation’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies for waste management and lauded the Genrobotics team, stating that the civic body would explore all possible ways to utilise the company’s technology.
Repeated manual cleaning efforts in the area had led to serious safety incidents, including the death of sanitation worker Joy in 2024.
In this backdrop, the corporation initiated the deployment of robotic cleaning technology in strict compliance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, with the aim of eliminating human entry into hazardous canal-cleaning operations, officials said.
Corporation Deputy Mayor Asha Nath GS, Divisional Railway Manager Divyakant Chandrakar, and Genrobotic Innovations CEO and co-founder Vimal Govind MK were present on the occasion.
G-Spider is designed to operate in complex, high-risk canal environments without requiring human entry.
Built on a cable-driven parallel robotics architecture integrated with AI-enabled vision and sensor systems, the robotic platform enables precise detection, assessment and removal of accumulated waste.
The system uses machine vision and intelligent sensors to autonomously identify and assess waste in real time, dynamically adapting to varying waste types, water flow conditions and structural constraints within canals, officials said.
Guided by AI-driven vision algorithms, the robotic mechanism performs precise waste extraction through a five-degrees-of-freedom configuration, enabling accurate positioning, stable gripping, and reliable debris removal.
The extracted waste is automatically transferred to designated collection vehicles, enabling a fully hands-free, end-to-end canal cleaning process from detection to disposal, they added.
