Tension prevailed in the Chikalthana area when a youth died by suicide due to fear that his house would be demolished in the road-expansion drive initiated by the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC). Angry residents refused to take away the body of the deceased and staged an agitation on Chikalthana Road on Thursday night for three hours.
Rajeshwar alias Munna Sainath Navpute – Gote (30) hanged himself. The incident came to light on Thursday morning. CSMC has initiated road-expansion drives across the city and started the demolition of properties for it. Rajeshwar was afraid that his house, which he had constructed with hard-earned money, would be demolished during the drive. Hence, he died by suicide.
His family members, relatives and villagers refused to take away the body and staged an agitation on Chikalthana Road between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm, along with the body of Rajeshwar.
The Navpute family is native to Chikalthana village. They have their ancestral house near the Mahadev temple on the main road of Chikalthana village. They demolished the old house and constructed a new one on the land in 2013–14. Rajeshwar and his brother were living in the house. However, Rajeshwar was worried that his house might be demolished in the road-expansion drive.
He hanged himself on Wednesday night, and the family members discovered it in the morning. His family, relatives, and locals staged an agitation in the evening with the body of Rajeshwar. The police and municipal corporation officers assured them that action would be taken after a thorough investigation. The agitation was then withdrawn. CSMC anti-encroachment squad chief Sanjay Suradkar assured that Rajeshwar’s family will be provided a house through the Prime Minister Gharkul scheme.
