The Hindu : National : Senior U.P. IAS officer commits suicide; motive uncertain

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Monday, Nov 30, 2009
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Senior U.P. IAS officer commits suicide; motive uncertain

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: Mystery shrouds the death of senior IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Harminder Raj Singh, who shot himself at his residence here in the early hours of Sunday. What led Mr. Singh to the extreme step is unknown as no suicide note was found.

Even as the police said the bureaucrat had blood pressure and might have been suffering from depression, several theories are floating here about the probable cause of the suicide. One is that pressure was being applied on him from an unknown quarter for executing a particular scheme.

An IAS officer of the 1978 batch, Mr. Singh held the key post of Principal Secretary (Housing) in the Mayawati government and was considered a hassle-free and jovial officer. He had a temple wound and had apparently pulling the trigger of his licensed revolver on himself. He shot himself at around 1.15 a.m. and his wife, Ashima Singh, called the police control room at around 1.20 a.m., informing them about the incident.

Mr. Singh was rushed to the Trauma Centre of the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University here by the police, but he was pronounced brought dead by the doctors. His post mortem was conducted in the early hours.

Two rooms — his bedroom and an attached room where he committed suicide — of his residence were sealed by the police.

The news of Mr. Singh’s death stunned the bureaucratic circles and IAS and IPS officers reached his residence to pay their tributes. Some Opposition party leaders, including the Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Parishad, Ahmed Hasan visited Mr. Singh’s residence.

Before the incident, Mr. Singh along with his wife had visited the Butler Palace residence of his batchmate, Principal Secretary, Transport, Desh Deepak Verma, where a party was held to celebrate the wedding of the latter’s son. The couple returned at around 9.30 p.m.

Meanwhile, a retired bureaucrat and Congress MP from Barabanki, P.L. Punia demanded a CBI inquiry into the suicide. A former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in the Mayawati regime of 2002-03, Mr. Punia told The Hindu from Varanasi that details such as which persons met Mr. Singh in the last two to three days, who insulted him, and on which file was he was forced to append his signature, should be looked into.

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