Suicide note by Mohali petrol pump owner names at least 13, FIR against six

Police say they may add more names as investigation progresses.

The nine-page suicide note written by a Mohali-based petrol pump owner, who died by suicide on Wednesday night, mentions at least 13 names, including officials of Chandigarh administration, a petroleum corporation, Punjab Police and a close family member, but the FIR has been registered against only six.

Police say they may add more names as investigation progresses.

The 76-year-old deceased, a resident of Sector 69, Mohali, owned two petrol pumps – one in Phase 7, Mohali, and another in Patrasi, Fatehgarh Sahib.

“I hereby confirm and declare truth that I have committed suicide due to harassment by officials of an oil corporation,” he wrote in the suicide note, while naming six officials.

Alleging that officials of the UT administration, an oil firm and Punjab Police forced him to sell a property, he wrote: “By way of cheating and conspiracy, they snatched my property in the name of my wife (name concealed) at Daun on Chandigarh-Kharar road with the help of Punjab Police and an official of the oil firm.”

He also wrote about complaining to senior officials of the company, but no action was taken.

Mentioning how he was incurring monthly loss of Rs 80 lakh due to difference in VAT rates between neighbouring states, he wrote: “I had gone bankrupt due to lowering of VAT rates of petrol and diesel at Chandigarh by UT administration at the behest of (one private business dealer) and other dealers at Sector 49 and 52 by bribing Chandigarh (officers).”

He laid the blame of “compelling circumstances” on officials of the oil company and others (names withheld) for being “the root cause of looting my right to earn my bread.”

The deceased also wrote that he had signed an agreement to purchase a house in Sector 9 with a woman, who cheated him as she was not legally allowed to sell the house in 2005-06. He said one of close family members had also “joined hands with UT police”.

The note further read that he was a simple businessman who could not fight corrupt officials of the oil company and UT administration, a private dealer, the woman with whom he finalised the properly deal and her son-in-law, with an appeal to lodge FIR against all culprits.

After finding this note on Thursday night, UT Police have booked the six officials of an oil firm under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the deceased’s 47-year-old son, who lives in Sector 15, Chandigarh.

“In his suicide note, he specifically named six people, while mentioning a series of events and names of several others. If their role is established during the course of investigation, their names can be included in the FIR,” said deputy commissioner of police Mohit Handa.