Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ram Swaroop Sharma was on Wednesday found dead at his residence in Delhi’s North Avenue, NDTV reported. The Delhi Police are investigating whether he died by suicide and have sent his body for postmortem examination.

According to the police, a call was made to the Police Control Room around 7.45 am by his aide after the BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh did not open the door, PTI reported. A police team reached and forced open the door. They found Sharma hanging from a ceiling fan. Sharma was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Advertisement

“It looks like a case of suicide, but we are continuing to probe,” Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal told the Hindustan Times. “We’ll know better once we have the autopsy report and have questioned people.”

The police said no suicide note was found from the spot. The 62-year-old parliamentarian was reportedly unwell and suffering from various ailments, according to PTI.

The BJP cancelled its Parliamentary Party meeting, scheduled for this morning, after news of Sharma’s death. Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 1 pm after an obituary reference to Sharma. Delhi Joint Commissioner of Police Jaspal Singh also went to the Parliament to provide a report in the case.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was pained by Sharma’s “untimely and unfortunate” death. “Ram Swaroop Sharma was a dedicated leader, who was always committed to solving people’s problems,” he tweeted. “He worked tirelessly for the betterment of society...My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this sad hour.”

Advertisement

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur told ANI that he was “extremely saddened” by Sharma’s death. “We used his work as an example for party workers,” he added.

Sharma was born at Jalpehar village in Mandi district on June 10, 1958. He was first elected to Lok Sabha in 2014, and again re-elected from Mandi in the 2019 General Elections.