Navi Mumbai developer shoots himself

Raj Kandhari of Navi Mumbai-based Swaraj Group — counted among the leading developers of the satellite city — shot himself in head at his Sanpada residence on Monday afternoon. Police officials are maintaining that he is on life support at Vashi's MGM Hospital.

Kandhari, in his early 30s, reportedly fired four rounds on the walls of his bedroom, before turning the fifth bullet on himself around 2.30pm. His mother and sister, who were at home at the time of the incident, called the police and rushed him to the hospital in critical condition.

While the reason for the extreme step is not yet clear, sources say that it was his frustration with an illness that drove him to shoot himself, while others claim that he was frustrated with the long delay in securing permissions for one of his big projects in New Panvel.

Kandhari was the sole face of Swaraj Group, having constructed over a million square feet of real estate in the satellite city. Industry sources say that he had run into a rough situation in the past couple of years due to over trading. According to the source, at least a dozen projects of Swaraj are in varying stages of in completion in the peripheral areas like Dronagiri, Ulwe and Taloja, and the developer has been relegated to the sidelines in the local business circles in the recent past.

Incidentally, Kandhari has been known to be trigger-happy even in the past. On one occasion, a case was booked against him for threatening a BEST bus driver with his licensed gun, while on another occasion, a companion travelling with him had accidentally set off the gun but escaped with a minor injury on the neck. At the time of the incident, Kandhari's wife and two children were not at home.