Times News NetworkPanaji: A tourist from Karnataka, Sandeep Salayam, was found dead in his hotel room at Calangute late Tuesday night. Salayam, a former driver of an ex-Karnataka minister, was rushed to a nearby hospital on Tuesday and declared ‘brought dead’.Police said an unidentified woman had joined Salayam in his room after he arrived in Goa, and his gold chain was found missing. Police are trying to trace the woman.Salayam drove to Goa on Sunday with his cousin and two friends. The group stayed at a Calangute hotel in separate rooms, police said, and Salayam was later joined by the woman in his room.On Tuesday, when Salayam’s cousin and friends called him, they received no response. Assuming he was occupied, they went to the beach and sightseeing around Calangute. By evening, repeated calls again went unanswered, prompting them to alert the hotel management. At around 9.30pm, the group had the door opened, and Salayam was found lying on the floor.Police said the woman had already left the hotel earlier in the evening and remains untraceable. A search has been launched to locate her.Salayam’s body was shifted to the GMC, Bambolim, for a postmortem examination conducted on Wednesday. The cause of death was inconclusive, as per the autopsy report.Sources said Salayam worked as a driver for a former Karnataka minister for many years and, in recent years, after returning to his native place in Malpe, started his own business. Calangute police said further investigation is on.
