Congress candidate for Kharsiya civic poll commits suicide

RAIGARH: A Congress candidate contesting the Kharsiya Municipal Council election allegedly committed suicide at his house in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district today, police said.

Baburam Kanwar (36), a candidate from Ward No-7 of Kharsiya Municipal Council, was found hanging from the ceiling of his room, Raigarh Superintendent of Police Rahul Bhagat said.

The election in the region is scheduled to be held on December 31.

As per preliminary investigation, Kanwar was with the party workers in his locality till around 3 AM after which he left for home.

When his family members found him hanging in his room in the wee hours, they immediately informed police. No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the SP said.

A case has been registered in this connection, he said adding that further probe was on.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Kharsiya seat Umesh Patel said he suspected foul play and demanded a detailed investigation into Kanwar's death.

Kanwar was happy with his nomination and was enthusiastically campaigning along with party workers in his region. He was confident of winning the election, he said.

Police should probe the incident thoroughly to ascertain the reason which compelled him to take the extreme step, Patel said.