Ailing Maharashtra IPS officer shoots self

Maharashtra's Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Himanshu Roy reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself in the head here on Friday, official sources said.

According to preliminary information, he shot himself with his service revolver at his south Mumbai house around 1.40 p.m.

He was rushed to the Bombay Hospital by some family members and aides where he was declared dead.

The police have not recovered any suicide note, while there were stunned reactions of disbelief from the entire state police top brass.

With a sterling career to his credit, Roy had been ailing with cancer for some time and was on medical leave when he decided to take the extreme step.

A Chartered Accountant by training and an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1988 batch, Roy is survived by his wife Bhawna Roy, an IAS officer who quit civil services to work with NGOs in Maharashtra.

The officer, who was noted for his muscular body, his regular workouts at the gym and maintaining a good balanced health, was detected with cancer, which had left him depressed for the past few months.

A former Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) and chief of Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Mumbai, Roy was credited with directing the investigations into several sensational crimes and high-profile cases in the past few years.

These include journalist J. Dey murder case, the judgment in which came last week (May 2) and actress Meenakshi Thapa killing, the verdict in which was pronounced earlier in the day.

Besides, he directed the probe into the ill-famed IPL match fixing and betting scams of 2013, in which several top cricketers and Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh were among the accused, and the brutal killing of lawyer Pallavi Puryakayastha -- daughter of an IAS officer at the Centre -- at her Mumbai home in August 2012.

--IANS

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