The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has submitted a report regarding the suicide of stockbroker Ripon Malhotra (54) in June this year, confirmed that the suicide letter making allegations against senior police officers was indeed written by the deceased.
Confirming this, a CID official said that the 34-page report was submitted to Director-General and Inspector General of Police Lal Rukhama Pachau. He said that the four-page suicide letter was examined by the FSL officials, who confirmed that the handwriting was that of Mr. Ripon Malhotra.
Mr. Malhotra, the CEO of Rippsons Group of Companies, was found hanging at his house in the city in June. A suicide note addressed to the Home Department had alleged that top cops, including the former City Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji and Deputy Commissioner Of Police D. Devaraj, had misbehaved with him when he was detained in connection with cheating cases. He had alleged that a senior cop had tried to extort Rs. 7 crore from him. After the letter was found, a CID probe was ordered into the suicide by the Chief Minister.
During their investigation, the CID officials found that certain police procedures had been violated by the officers involved. However, they said that Mr. Malhotra had not been beaten up or wrongfully confined by the police.
While Mr. Malhotra blamed police pressure for his extreme step in the suicide note, the officials said that there were various contributing factors to his suicide. “He had about 700 clients and hadn’t paid salaries of many and had not even paid electricity bills. In total, he owed Rs. 41 crore and was in deep debt,” a senior official said.
