A senior IAS officer heading the housing department in Uttar Pradesh allegedly committed suicide at his official residence in Lucknow by shooting himself from his licenced revolver early Sunday morning but police did not suspect any foul play.
Opposition parties--Samajwadi and BJP-- demanded a CBI probe into the incident. Harminder Raj Singh was a 1978 batch IAS officer.
Principal Secretary (Housing) Harminder Raj Singh committed suicide at around 1.15 AM on Sunday morning at his 6, Vikramaditya Marg bungalow with his licensed revolver by shooting himself on the right side of his head, Additional Director General, Law and Order A K Jain told reporters in Lucknow .
Jain said Singh's wife Ashima Singh informed the police control room about the incident immediately at 1.22 AM after which the officer was rushed to the Trauma centre where he died.
Asked about the motive of the murder, Jain said that according to the doctors attending on Singh he was suffering from high blood pressure, which could be the possible reason behind taking such an extreme step.
About the possibility of foul play, Jain said that as per the prima facie investigations it was not suspected. The exact motive of the suicide was yet to be ascertained, he said.
"We will talk to family members of the officer as soon as they return from Delhi, where his body was taken for performing the last rites", Jain said in reply to a question.
Asked whether call details of the officer was checked to ascertain with whom he had talked before suicide, Jain said that a probe in this regard was underway.
Jain said that at the time of incident his wife was in another room and she rushed to Harminder's room soon after she heard the gun shot.
"We have taken the Webley revolver and the five live cartridges left in our custody", Jain said.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party alleged that there was a lot of pressure on bureaucrats in Mayawati regime to collect money for the party.
"We demand a CBI probe into the incident so that real face, who was exerting pressure on the IAS officer could be exposed", SP state president Akhilesh Yadav told reporters.
He said that last year PWD executive engineer M K Gupta was allegedly murdered by BSP MLA after he refused to pay a hefty amount for Mayawati's birthday celebrations.
The BJP also backed the SP demand.
We demand a CBI probe so that the real face pressuring the officer should be exposed", BJP State Vice President Hriday Narain Dixit told reporters.
Alleging that officers were under pressure in Mayawati regime to collect money, Dixit said only a CBI probe could unravel the truth. PTI
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