Chennai: Police constable R. Gopinath, 23, shot himself to death on Sunday early morning in Chennai allegedly frustrated over being denied permission to take leave and also because of workload.
“I am ending my life because of a headache and workload,” he said in his suicide note written in Tamil. He got transferred from Palani TSP battalion to AR, St Thomas Mount, two months back. “He has not started receiving salary here as his joining file was not sent to the higher ups by his superiors at St Thomas Mount due to reasons best known to them. It is not easy for a constable to carry on with life without salary,” police sources said.
Gopinath was found dead by one of his colleagues at the Armed Reserve battalion camp at St Thomas Mount at around 4.30 am. The body was lying on a chair and it had a bullet injury to the head. The police rifle lying over his body.
Police sources said Gopinath was feeling unwell and had been requesting for leave. His colleagues said he could have committed suicide frustrated over being denied leave.
However, senior officers said that he was on leave for four days from December 15 to 18 and went to his hometown Madurai. “He went on medical leave for four days and on return, he was asked to do duty on a continuous basis, which caused a headache for him,” sources said. Other constables in the AR in WhatsApp group chat said that a senior officer removed his mobile phone from his pocket when he was found dead. He was reportedly active in WhatsApp till 2.17 am, Sunday.
His colleagues came to know about his death when they came searching for him using flashlights as nobody heard a gun shot. Gopinath had completed training in Thootukudi in 2013 and served with Palani battalion first. He was pursuing his BA economics in correspondence for which he had taken leave. A case has been registered at St Thomas Mount police station and further investigations are on.
