Police inspector shoots self in Karnataka

A Karnataka circle inspector allegedly shot himself fatally with a service revolver in a police station at Malur town in Kolar district early Tuesday, the state police said.

"M. Raghavendra, 32, was found dead in his chamber on the first floor of the police station by one of the policemen who went upstairs to meet him early morning," state Inspector General of Police (IGP) Seemanth Kumar Singh told IANS.

Malur is 45 km from Bengaluru.

"We have registered a case of unnatural death under Section 174 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and a DSP (deputy superintendent of police) is inquiring into the incident to find out if there was foul play or was it a suicide," said Singh.

The inspector leaves behind his wife, a young son and parents at his native place Narsipur in the same district.

"He (inspector) was on night duty and went out for patrolling at 10.30 p.m. on Monday in a police vehicle but returned to the police station around 2.00 a.m.," recalled Singh, quoting the victim's driver.

Raghavendra is the third state police officer to commit suicide this year after Mangaluru DSP M. K. Ganapathy hanged himself at Madikeri in Kodagu district on July 7 and Chikkamagaluru rural DSP Kallappa Handibag hanged himself at his in-laws' home at Murgod in Belagavi district.

Kolar Superintendent of Police Divya Gopinath visited the police station for a first-hand account of the incident.

--IANS

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