In a mysterious death related to multi-crore Vidarbha irrigation scam, the advocate who exposed it has been found dead behind the district court building in Nagpur. Advocate Shrikant Khandalkar was found with injuries all over his body and with his face smashed.
A suicide note, written in Marathi, had been found in his pocket, police said. The case was taken over by the crime branch.
Claiming it to be a case of suicide, police said Khandalkar probably ended his life by jumping off the seven-story ‘Nyay Mandir’ – the district court building.
Nagpur Police Commissioner SP Yadav said, “We are probing all angles – whether suicide or homicide. It is for sure that his body fell from the 7th floor where his office is located. Postmortem has been conducted — and it indicates death due to injuries to his vital parts.”
The suicide note said he was suffering from a serious ailment which compelled him to take the drastic step.
Khandalkar had filed several PILs, dealing with the issues such as the irrigation scam, irregularities at Nagpur Municipal Corporation, land allotments of Nagpur Improvement Trust and development of ancient temples at Ramtek, etc.
He also had a criminal case for extortion registered against him at Sitaburdi police station a year ago. Khandalkar had been spotted by many people on the third floor of the court building on Saturday before he went missing, police said.
His wife saw a missed call from him later in the evening while she was driving. When she tried to call him back, it wasn’t answered. As he did not return till late at night, the family registered a missing complaint with the Sitaburdi police station, a police official said, adding that his mobile phone was missing.
