Overview
- Bhatikar, 38, was bitten Thursday night near Karmal Ghat in the Western Ghats while stopping during a drive linked to Dandeli, according to police and a companion who said he felt a bite after kneeling to pick up a dropped phone.
- He was taken to the Primary Health Centre in Dharbandora in the early hours of Friday and was declared brought dead shortly after arrival.
- A three-doctor panel conducted a postmortem on Friday with a preliminary finding of cerebral and pulmonary oedema consistent with a neurotoxic snakebite, and police registered a case of unnatural death.
- The Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta abated his Special Leave Petition on Friday that contested the High Court’s April 8 order quashing the Ponda bypoll due to less than a year remaining in the assembly’s term.
- Condolences poured in from Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, reflecting the loss of a young physiotherapist-turned-politician who had recently emerged as a key face for the party in Ponda.