Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik has directed the Crime Branch to probe the role of three officers in connection with the suicide of an Assistant Commissioner of Police-rank officer, who jumped to death from the Delhi Police Headquarters on November 29 last year.
According to police, ACP Prem Vallabh (55), who jumped from the window of his office on the ninth floor of the PHQ, had mentioned the names of the three officers in his suicide note.
It is learnt that the note was recovered from a pen drive found in Vallabh’s office cupboard, wherein he alleged that the three officers had “misguided” him on several occasions because of his “trusting nature”, and that he was depressed as a result.
Patnaik’s directive comes days after Vallabh’s wife Deepa Sharma gave a complaint to him, asking for a re-investigation into the death and action against the policemen. “We have received the order from the PHQ to conduct an enquiry,” said DCP (Crime Branch) Rajesh Deo.
Vallabh was posted with the Crime and Traffic (C&T) department in the Secretarial Branch of the PHQ. After the incident, JCP (central range) Rajesh Khurana had said, “As per a preliminary enquiry, we found he was suffering from anxiety and depression. He was also admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment.”
During investigation, police recovered two pen drives from his office cupboard, an office bag with a diary, and his mobile phone.
In her complaint, Vallabh’s wife alleged: “One of the policemen, whose name was mentioned, turned all office staff against my husband. My husband’s signature was… being misused by the C&T branch. This clearly indicates there may (have) been instances in the past when my husband might have noted these things, including forging of his signatures, which led him to a state of stress. There is a strong possibility that these policemen were hatching a conspiracy against my husband, which led him to his death.”
In the note, Vallabh had claimed: “My signatures are very easy and possibility of it being misused by the C&T branch cannot be ruled out… As soon as I came to know about it, it (caused) stress, strain and depression. Because of this, I have been overcome by hyper-depression, but somehow I managed… Now, I have failed to control my depression, which is affecting my official performance.”
He also requested the department to help his family get dues such as gratuity and pension. “My family members tried to console me several times, but I could not share the exact reason of my depression with them,” he wrote.
