MUMBAI: A 43-year-old employee of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) from Kolhapur district was found dead near Parel bus depot in central Mumbai early on Saturday, police said.
The deceased, Mahesh Lole, a resident of Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur, worked as a bus conductor, an official said.
Police did not suspect any foul play in his death, as they said that it appeared to be case of natural death.
The body was found at a time when a large number of employees of the state transport body, which has over 90,000 persons on its payrolls, have been on strike since November 2021.
On Friday, a group of MSRTC workers held a fierce protest outside NCP chief Sharad Pawar's Mumbai residence, accusing the veteran leader of not doing anything to help them.
"Lole had come to Mumbai four days back to participate in the ongoing agitation of ST employees, but did not go to Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, where the workers are protesting.
After the examination of CCTV footage of the area from where the body was recovered, it was found that he was spotted in Dadar area on Friday," he said.
The body was found in the wee hours of Saturday and a case of accidental death was registered at Dadar police station in this connection, the official said.
"No injury marks were found on his body, but police are awaiting the post-mortem report," he said.
The family members of the deceased were informed about his death and his body will be handed over to them after the post-mortem, he said.