A 2002-batch IPS Chhattisgarh IPS officer, Bilaspur SP Rahul Sharma, on Monday allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service revolver, the police said.
His death is, however, shrouded in mystery. Police sources said Mr Sharma, who launched a major offensive against the state’s powerful coal mafia recently, had never shown any sign of depression orf being under pressure till 'the last moment'.
Mr Sharma, 37, had resumed duty on Saturday after being on leave for 15 days. On Sunday night, however, he had shifted to the officers’ mess at Bilaspur, leaving his wife Gayatri and their two children at his wife’s official quarters in the town. His wife is a senior railway official posted in Bilaspur.
“I and the (SP’s) driver were waiting outside his (Sharma’s) room. I broke into the room when we heard a gunshot and found him in a pool of blood. His service revolver was lying beside him and he had a bullet wound in his head”, a senior police officer quoted Mr Sharma’s gunman as saying.
Police sources said Mr Sharma’s personal diary, some papers and documents were also found lying scattered in the room.
He was rushed to the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science, where doctors declared him “brought dead”.
A senior police officer said: “We don’t believe a strong-willed person like Mr Sharma could take (such an) extreme step.”
Mr Sharma had for the past few months been after the coal mafia in the district. Sources close to him claimed he was about to bring to book a coal cartel involved in illegal mining.