A 44-year-old Inspector shot himself dead at a police station in south Delhi on Wednesday. His family has alleged that he killed himself over caste discrimination faced at the hands of his senior.
Kaushal Gangoli pulled the trigger inside a washroom at the Chittaranjan Park police station, where he had been operating from for the past over one month.
‘Ill-treated by senior’
“We never saw him happy after he started working with the south-east district three months ago. A senior IPS officer used to ill-treat him because he belonged to the Scheduled Caste,” said a family member, who wished not to be named.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Romil Baaniya said they would initiate a probe into Gangoli’s death if his family filed a complaint.
On Wednesday, Gangoli’s colleagues rushed him to Max Hospital in Saket, where he was declared dead on arrival. His body is in the AIIMS mortuary and will be handed over to his family in Arjun Nagar on Friday after a post-mortem examination.
Gangoli, who was promoted in December 2016, had started working with the X Branch at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East).
A few months into the work, he asked for a transfer, after which he was shifted to the District Investigation Unit.
His family said he was once told by his senior that “your status does not qualify you to sit in front of me”.
A family member, who wished not to be named, told The Hindu that Gangoli had shared these problems with him.
“He told me he was ready to quit if he had to continue to work under the officer,” he said.
His family also alleged he had applied for a transfer to escape the harassment.
Mr. Baaniya, however, said Gangoli had asked for the transfer because he couldn’t cope with the work he was assigned.
In the dock
Gangoli’s family further said that he had been served a show-cause notice because he refused to carry out an assignment that was not to be done by an officer of his position.
Mr. Baaniya, however, said, he had been given the notice for misconduct.
“He was given the notice by an Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police for misconduct in March. He was asked to do something and he refused,” the officer said.
‘Excellent human being’
Meanwhile, a neighbour expressed shock over Gangoli’s death.
“He was an excellent human being. It’s shocking to know that he killed himself,” said Harpal Singh (69).
