A former Goa MLA on Saturday collapsed in a hotel and died minutes after he was allegedly assaulted by an auto driver following an argument in neighbouring Karnataka, an official said.

Police have arrested the accused auto driver, he said.

Congress leader Lavoo Mamlatdar, 68, was on a business trip to Belagavi, about 120 km from Panaji, where the incident took place. Before joining politics in 2012, Mamlatdar was a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer in Goa.

According to a senior Karnataka police department official, Mamlatdar and an auto driver got into an argument following an accident. During the altercation, the autodriver hit him multiple times, the official said citing CCTV footage procured from the spot.

After the assault, Mamlatdar went to a hotel where he collapsed on a staircase. “He was taken to a government hospital but was declared dead before admission,” the official said.

The Belagavi police have taken the rickshaw driver into custody, he said.

Mamlatdar was a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly between 2012-2017 representing the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). He had joined Congress in 2022 and unsuccessfully contested the Goa polls that year from Madkai constituency.

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