Kochi: In yet another case of suicide, a police officer attac-hed with Thadiyittapara-mbu station within the Ernakulam Rural limits was found hanging at his house in Choornikkara on Wednesday. The deceased P.C. Babu, 48, was the assistant sub-inspector of Thadiyittaparambu police station and had been serving at there for the last one and a half year.
Police said prima facie it is a case of suicide. The reason behind the death is yet to be ascertained as an investigation is underway, police said.
Meanwhile, Ernakulam Range DIG Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar has been put on charge to investigate the case as per the directions from State Police Chief Loknath Behera.
The suicide is suspected to have happened in the wee hours of Wednesday as Babu was reportedly active in whatsapp even past midnight. He reportedly alleged that the senior officer was the reason for his death in a whatsapp group chat of the Thad-iyittaparambu police station. The family of Babu was reportedly not present at the house that time as they went to a relative’s house.
Meanwhile, it is learnt from the police sources that Babu had availed multiple medical leaves up to 10 days this year and was reportedly questioned by the senior officer. The senior officer had submitted a report to the Perumbavoor DySP to conduct a medical board examination of Babu, for availing this much medical leaves. Babu seemed mentally disturbed reportedly following this incident.
However, the police shot down the reports that Babu was the victim of mental torture by his senior officers. “It is a normal departmental procedure when an officer goes on medical leave multiple times in a short period. But we don’t think the suicide was for this reason. It is being investigated by a team of officials led by Ernakulam Range DIG,” said M.J. Sojan, Additional Superintendent of Police, Ernakulam Rural.
The police is yet to confirm whether he was suffering from any illness.
A postmortem was conducted at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital and the body was released to kin. Babu is survived by his wife, a daughter, and a son.
