Former Assam police chief commits suicide

Former Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Baruah Wednesday shot himself dead at his residence here, police said.

Baruah's name had cropped up in the multi crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam last month, but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) confirmed through an official statement that he was not summoned as yet.

The CBI expressed its condolence over the death of Baruah and said it was a sad and unfortunate incident.

Baruah was admitted to a private hospital for the past three days due to some illness. After being discharged from the hospital around 11.20 a.m. Wednesday, he reached his home and shot himself.

His family members took him to a private nursing home where the doctors declared him dead, said a neighbour of the former DGP.

"He is dead. We have examined the place of incident. We are going for a post-mortem examination," said Senior Superintendent of Police (City) Anand Prakash Tiwary.A

Baruah, a 1974 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, retired as the state DGP in January 2012.

The CBI is likely to summon several persons from Assam, including politicians, former DGPs and some influential businessmen, for their alleged involvement in the scam.

The CBI recently arrested Assam's prominent singer and filmmaker Sadananda Gogoi in the case.

Besides the house of Shankar Baruah, the CBI sleuths had Aug 28 also raided 12 locations in Assam, including the houses and properties of two former ministers of Assam "Himanta Biswa Sarma and Anjan Dutta, and singer Sadananda Gogoi.