PONDA: The body of 27-year-old Lakshman Shelke, a resident of Pokharmal-Kalay who had been reported missing since Wednesday afternoon, was recovered from the waters of the Dudhsagar River at Shigao-Collem. The body was fished out by Curchorem Fire Station personnel and Collem police subsequently conducted the necessary panchnama and have since sent the body for an autopsy.
Shelke worked as a MTS at the Directorate of Archaeology and Archives and had gone missing under mysterious circumstances. His belongings, including slippers, clothing, and mobile phone, were discovered on the shoreline. Fueled by concern and urgency, family members and local villagers initiated a search operation that was eventually augmented by the involvement of Curchorem firefighters. The firefighters spotted Shelke’s body approximately 1 km from the banks of the river. The panchnama was conducted under the guidance of Collem PI Sagun Sawant.
Meanwhile, the Collem police have also succeeded in identifying a decomposed body that was found on Wednesday, entangled in the bandhara of the Dudhsagar River at Bimbal. An investigation by the police identified the deceased as Nagappa Bondu Desai, a 62-year-old hailing from Anmod, Karnataka. The police’s findings indicate that Desai had gone for fishing at the end of July.
