A 60-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party activist was found murdered in his friend’s house near Gorigudde school on Tuesday in the Mangalore Rural police station limits.
The deceased Ganesh Ram Suvarna, a resident of Karkala, had come to the city to oversee the Ganesh Chathurti celebrations at Garodi. Mr. Suvarna was the president of Ganesh Utsava Samiti in Garodi. He has been associated with the committee for over three decades. He was found dead in the kitchen.
According to Jayaram Bhat, a member of the samiti, Mr. Suvarna had called all members for a puja on Tuesday morning as there had been delay in getting a land for the samiti. Mr. Bhat did not turn up for the puja. Mr. Bhat also did not respond to calls made to his mobile phone or the land line. Some activists came to the house but they left as they did not see Mr. Suvarna’s motorcycle. They did not get any information about Mr. Suvarna’s whereabouts from his sister’s house. Another group of samiti members came to the house in the evening and found the front and the rear doors locked.
They opened a window and found Mr. Suvarna’s body on the floor of the kitchen. They alerted the police who opened the rear door with a duplicate key.
Commissioner of Police Manish Kharbikar said Mr. Suvarna’s throat had been slit. He said people had seen Mr. Suvarna sporting a gold chain and riding a motorcycle. The gold chain was not found on the body. Mr. Suvarna was last seen by his friends on Monday night.
Suvarna is survived by his wife and his daughter, who is married. He was staying alone in his friend’s house, which had been vacant for nearly a year. Mr. Suvarna was the vice-president of Garodi Billava Sangha.
