Howrah civic body's borough chairman dies in Puri hotel, reason unknown

Mystery shrouds the death of a borough chairman of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) whose body was found with injury marks in the ground floor of the hotel where he had boarded in Puri in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Police said the victim Rajat Sarkar was the chairman of borough number 1 and Councillor of ward number 2 of the corporation. The resident of Salkia in Howrah went to Puri on Sunday.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, security personnel of the hotel heard a thud and rushed out to find Rajat's body lying in a portion in between two adjacent hotels.

He was found in an unconscious state and declared brought dead when taken to the hospital.

Though the police are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind his death, they suspect that he might have died after falling from the third floor of the building. He had boarded in room number 304 and went to the third floor for some reason last night. The repair work of the rooms in the third floor was going on and some portions were left open on the walls to fix windows. Police suspect that he might have fallen while peeping out of the portion that was left open.

He had boarded at Kalinga Hotel in Puri while others who went along with him were in another hotel. Others rushed to his hotel when they came to know about the incident.

The body was sent for an autopsy. It will be brought to his Salkia home in Howrah before his last rites are performed.

Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, the Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports department, went to the house of Rajat after knowing about his death. He expressed his condolence to his family members.

According to the victim's family members, he used to go to Puri every year during Ratha Yatra. This year too, he went to Puri to perform puja on the auspicious day of Ulta Rath.