Correspondent
GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 17
A former Director General of Police (DGP) of Assam Shankar Barua committed suicide by shooting himself on the head on Wednesday.
The name of Barua – a 1974 batch IPS officer and son of former IGP Bhavani Barua – was linked to the multi-crore Saradha scam. He served as DGP from July 2009 to January 2012.
Barua shot himself dead with his licensed revolver, barely an hour after he was discharged from a hospital in Guwahati on Wednesday. He was suffering from depression and was admitted to the hospital on Saturday after he had complained of chest pain and breathlessness.
His body was found lying in a pool of blood inside a room on the terrace of his residential building.
He was rushed to a hospital but the doctors declared him as brought dead. Barua’s wife and his 95-year-old mother were at home when he took the extreme step.
“One empty shell and five live cartridges were retrieved from the site of the incident. Our investigation is on,” city senior Superintendent of Police AP Tiwary told journalists outside Barua’s residence.
Last month, the CBI had raided Barua’s residence and took him to a bank branch for examination of his bank account and locker.
The houses of former Assam Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Anjan Dutta, and noted singer Sadananda Gogoi were also searched by the agency on that day.
Two days later, the CBI took Gogoi to Calcutta for interrogation and arrested him on September 12.
In Assam, he was allegedly the link between the company and those under the CBI scanner. Dwiban Deka, an employee of Saradha’s media house in Guwahati, had alleged last year that Barua provided “protection” for the operation of the company in Assam.
Meanwhile, the family of Barua said non-stop coverage by TV channels relating to the former DGP had upset him. A relative alleged that Barua had been “murdered by some non-Assamese people”. Some senior police officers had been allegedly harassing Barua for the past few weeks.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has mourned the demise.
“He was an upright and efficient police officer who discharged his duties conscientiously and assiduously,” Gogoi said in a condolence message.
