59-year-old jeweller from Goa dies of heart attack at festival

KOLHAPUR: A devotee who had travelled all the way from Goa to Kolhapur for the Kanyagat Mahaparva died of cardiac arrest on Friday morning.

Santosh Prashant Velhekar a 59-year- old jeweller from Goa's Santa Cruz village had arrived in Kolhapur on Thursday with his family.

Late night on Thursday, while he was standing in queue, Vekhekar fainted. He was rushed to a civic hospital in Sangli, where his reports appeared normal. He was later discharged and being taken back to Goa.

However, he again got a cardiac arrest en-route and was declared dead on arrival at the Kolhapur-based Chhatrapati Pramila Raje (CPR) civil hospital.

Velhekar was in Shirol with his wife Sanjana and nephew Jitendra.

Velhekar's family then arrived at Kolhapur city and took him to the Chhatrapati Pramilaraje civil hospital.

Velherkar received some medical support provided at Nrusinhwadi, however because he was critically ill, he had to be shifted. No further details were availabe as the family left with his body towards Goa immediately after the post mortem.