A 42-year-old man from Malpe in Karnataka’s Udupi district was found dead in his hotel room at Goa’s Calangute on Tuesday night, following which police registered a murder case.
Sandeep Salian was in Goa with three friends and was staying at a hotel in Calangute.
“He died under suspicious circumstances. We have registered a murder case at Calangute police station and are investigating,” Harish Madkaikar, Superintendent of Police (North Goa), said.
According to the preliminary investigation, Salian and his friends were at a casino in Calangute when he befriended another person who has not yet been identified.
His friends began searching for him and later that night found him unconscious in his room.
“Some of his valuables were also found missing from his body,” a police officer said.
Salian was the former personal assistant of BJP leader Pramod Madhwaraj. He broke up with Madhwaraj several years ago and was running a water sports business in Malpe, Udupi.
The officer said an autopsy was performed, but the report kept the cause of death pending further analysis of the viscera.
“We are trying to identify the person he befriended in Goa,” the officer added.
