Maharashtra top cop sets himself afire, battling for life

Additional Director General of Police R.K. Sahay set himself afire at his home late Saturday. Police officials said Sunday it was a suicide attempt.

An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1986 batch, Sahay has been rushed to the Bombay Hospital with 60 percent burn injuries.

The motive behind the step is not yet known. Top police officials are investigating the matter.

Sahay shot into the limelight when he recently submitted an inquiry report detailing alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) during the tenure of its former chief, Deepak Kapoor, an IAS officer of 1991 batch.

The internal inquiry was conducted by Sahay in his capacity as the Chief Vigilance Officer of the MSRTC before he was promoted and transferred as Additional DGP two months ago.

Kapoor, presently awaiting a new posting from the state government, was earlier the high-profile private secretary to Praful Patel when the politician from the Nationalist Congress Party was civil aviation minister at the centre.

Officers in the senior bureaucracy unwilling to be named said seniority issues and service background clashes had occurred, as there was constant friction between the senior IPS officer Sahay and his boss, a junior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

Following Sahay's report, now the State Anti-Corruption Bureau is believed to have sought the state government's permission to initiate an investigation against Kapoor.