Mumbai, July 7: EARLY on Friday morning, Dr Navin Hiranandani (66)—the elder brother of property tycoons Niranjan and Surendra Hiranandani—was found dead on the bathroom floor of his plush Malabar Hill residence. The police, who said that Navin was suffering from depression for many years, have registered a case of accidental death but suspect he committed suicide.

The police said Navin’s veins on the right elbow joint had been slashed and preliminary investigations have revealed that he died due to excessive bleeding. They found a blood-stained surgical knife on a bedside table, along with a white envelope on which the words ‘HEART ATTACK’ had been written in bold letters. Handwriting analysts are verifying whether the words were penned by Navin himself before he died.

Navin, an ENT surgeon by training, used to run Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital at Powai, named after his father—a well known ENT surgeon—who lives in the flat below Navin’s at Kanta Apartments on L D Ruparel Cross Road, Malabar Hill. He also taught at the ENT department of Nair Hospital.

He lived with his wife Sunita—a non-practising doctor—on the sixth floor of the building. Navin’s son Sanjay is an engineer living in the United States.

‘‘He was treated for schizophrenia many years back, and had been suffering from depression for the past 20 years. About a fortnight ago, he had contested an election to an ENT medical council, where he garnered only the third highest votes,’’ Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Arup Patnaik told Newsline. ‘‘According to his family, Navin was depressed about this. He told them that he would fight the matter in court, even if it meant approaching the Supreme Court.’’

Senior Police Inspector Issak Bhagwan of the Malabar Hill police station said that around 7.30 am, the maid at Navin’s house, Chaya Vakode (35), found the door to his room slightly ajar. When she went in, she found a trail of blood leading to the bathroom, where Navin was lying on the floor. ‘‘His wife called up the police station,’’ said Bhagwan.

According to Bhagwan, on Thursday night, Navin came back from Hiranandani Hospital around 7.30 pm. He had dinner with his wife, watched television for some time and went into his bedroom around 10.30 pm. His wife retired to another bedroom. He was not seen by anyone after that till Chaya—who has been working in the house for the past two months—found him.

Navin’s body was taken to J J Hospital, where a post mortem was conducted. He was cremated at Chandanwadi Ghats in Marine Lines.