Goa, Nov 8 (The Hindu) : Priest-turned-social activist Father Bismarque Dias, who went missing on Friday, was on Saturday found dead in north Goa, police said.

According to the police, the body of Dias was found floating in river Mandovi near St. Estevam in north Goa on Saturday morning.

The body was sent for post-mortem. The priest reportedly had gone for swimming and did not return home. A search operation was launched on Friday night.

Besides participating in several protests, Dias had filed a complaint before the National Green Tribunal regarding an illegal road being built in St. Estevam village through the Coastal regulation Zone area.

He also participated in the protests against the alleged State government-corporate nexus and land grabs in Goan villages.

Parties demand probe

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has urged the Goa government “to take every possible step to verify if any foul play was involved in the incident.”

AAP leader Rajashree Nagarsekar said the Goa police must explore and pursue every possible circumstance in this sudden and unexplained tragedy.

“He had received threats to his life and the police must find out whether his death is a manufactured drowning,” Goa Bachao Abhiyan convenor Sabina Martins said.

CPI(M) leader Thalmann Pereira also demanded a thorough probe into death of Dias.

Dias had unsuccessfully contested from Cumbharjua constituency in the 2012 Goa Assembly elections.