UP ATS officer found dead, suicide suspected

LUCKNOW: Additional SP, Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), Rajesh Sahni, died of gunshot wounds inside his office in Gotminagar on Tuesday afternoon. As his .9mm Glock service pistol was found beside him in his chamber at ATS headquarters, it is suspected that the 1992-batch Provincial Police Service (PPS) officer shot himself.

A high-profile officer, Sahni was with the ATS since 2014 and was handling important cases like the recent arrest of ISI mole from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. He had also successfully carried several operations including the encounter of Saifullah in Haji Colony, Kakori in March 2017. Before joining ATS, he spent two years with the NIA.

While probe is on to find out what prompted Sahni to take the extreme step, officials were also examining WhatsApp chats between Sahni and some close family members while pursuing other leads.

On Tuesday, Sahni arrived at the office around 10.30am even though he was on leave from May 28 to June 7. Having spent some time on the first floor of the ATS office with wireless operator Om Prakash Dubey, he went to his room on the ground floor with some files. Thereafter, he summoned his driver-cum-gunner Manoj and asked him to fetch his service weapon from his vehicle parked outside. Around 12.45pm, he shot himself. He spoke to his wife on phone at 11.40am and sent her a message at11.42 am .