Man found hanging in Goa, bodies of wife, son recovered in Karnataka; cops suspect mass suicide
Panaji, Jul 1: The body of a 50-year-old man was found in a forest patch of Goa a couple of days ago while that of his wife and minor son were recovered off Devbag beach in neighbouring Karnataka, with police suspecting it may be a case of mass suicide.
An official said the man, identified as Shyam Patil, was a labour contractor and was reportedly reeling under debts he had taken from institutions as well as individuals.
"Patil's body was found hanging from a tree in a forest in Quepem taluka in south Goa on Thursday. The corpse of his wife Jyoti (37) and 12-year-old son were spotted off Devbag beach in Karwar in Karnataka the same day," he said.
"Prima facie, it seems like a case of mass suicide. The family lived in Chicalim village, some 15 kilometres away from Panaji. As per neighbours, they had left for Karwar on Wednesday at 8:30pm," he added.
Patil had sent a voice message to his friends and a relative claiming his wife and son had committed suicide and had said he too was ending his life, the police official informed.
"A note has been recovered from Patil's car in which he said he was ending his life due to a financial crisis. Further probe into the case is underway," the official added.
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Voting underway for local body elections in Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Voting got underway on Sunday morning for elections to several local bodies in Gujarat, including 15 municipal corporations and 84 municipalities.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.
The elections are being held for 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, making it one of the largest electoral exercises in the state.
A total of 9,992 candidates are in the fray, with more than 4.18 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
A three-tier security is in place, aided by CCTV surveillance and deployment of special squads in sensitive areas, police officials said.
The polls are being conducted under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, and required extensive delimitation and restructuring of wards in several districts.
The ruling BJP, Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have emerged as the key players, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is also contesting in several places.
Among notable candidates are former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer M L Ninama, ex-radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
Ninama is contesting from the Odh seat in Shamlaji taluka for the Arvalli district panchayat elections, while the BJP has nominated Bhayani from the Bhesan seat of the Junagadh district panchayat.
Desai, popularly known as RJ Abha, is contesting as a Congress candidate from ward number 10 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Elections are also being held for the first time in nine newly-created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.
Counting of votes will take place on April 28.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel campaigned extensively for the BJP.
The AAP had taken the lead over other parties in launching the campaign, with its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressing several rallies across Gujarat.
In a first for AAP, the Kejriwal-led party is contesting around 5,000 seats in local polls.
Other contestants include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independents.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi campaigned in the final phase, addressing public meetings in Ahmedabad and Bhuj.
In March 2021, the BJP scored a landslide win in the local polls in Gujarat, winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats across various municipalities and establishing a wide gap with rival Congress.
The BJP had then dominated all six municipal corporations, besides 81 municipalities, 32 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats.
