Police have recorded the statements of three security guards, who are posted at the residence of the former director of the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) and ex–Nagaland governor Ashwani Kumar (69), who died by suicide at his residence in the posh Brockhurst locality in Shimla last week.
Police have taken into possession of Kumar’s mobile phone, which will be sent to the Junga-based Central Forensic Laboratory (CFL) for examination.
They have also preserved his viscera for forensic investigation.
Police have recorded the statement of his son Abhishekh, who is a vice-president in a Mumbai-based multinational company, and his daughter-in-law.
The family members have denied any foul play in his death, but investigators are probing all angles to ascertain the circumstances that led him to take the drastic step.
Kumar was known for his “integrity” “and “professionalism”.
Police have also got hold of his medical records.
Kumar was said to be suffering from depression and had also been on medication. His purported suicide note also hinted at depression. “I am fed up with my disease and disability. I don’t want to be a burden on my family. There is no point to carry on with life. My soul will soon embark upon a new journey. No weeping, no crying over my demise. No rituals and no ceremonies. Call the police and handover my body for medical experimentation. God bless you all .Bye-bye forever,” he had written in the one-page suicide note, which will be examined by handwriting experts.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar was said to be suffering from depression and had also been on medication. His purported suicide note also hinted at depression. “I am fed up with my disease and disability. I don’t want to be a burden on my family. There is no point to carry on with life. My soul will soon embark upon a new journey. No weeping, no crying over my demise. No rituals and no ceremonies. Call the police and handover my body for medical experimentation. God bless you all .Bye-bye forever,” he had written in the one-page suicide note, which will be examined by handwriting experts.
{{/usCountry}}“All the relevant statements are being recorded. We have taken consent from the family to examine the medical records of the ex-Governor ‘’said Mohit Chawla, superintendent of police (SP), Shimla.
“The case is under investigation. It is clear that no outsider barged inside his house,” he said.
The daughter in-law has reportedly told the police that Kumar had gone up to the attic of his three- storey house for meditation in the evening when he died by suicide.
Later, his family members found the door of the attic bolted from inside after he didn’t come down from there for a while. They found him dead after they broke open the attic door.
Kumar was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. His mother, too, had suffered from the similar ailment.
Earlier, on the day that Kumar had died by suicide, he had gone to the mall in Shimla for a stroll.
The Himachal Pradesh government had provided security guards at the former Governor’s residence.
The guards, who were questioned, had reportedly told the police that they stayed outside the house and rarely visited his residence.
Kumar, a 1973-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, had held many senior positions in Himachal Police, the CBI and the Special Protection Group (SPG).
He was the CBI director between August 2008 and November 2010.
In March 2013, he was appointed as the Governor of Nagaland. He was also the Governor of Manipur briefly the same year.
Kumar was the CBI director, when the agency had arrested Amit Shah in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing case in Gujarat.
He had also dealt with the Arushi Talwar-Hemraj murder case during his tenure as the central probe agency chief.
Kumar had also served as the vice-chancellor (V-C) to the Alakh Prakash Goyal (APG) University, which is located on the outskirts of Shimla, but had quit the post two years ago.
APG university is under the scanner for selling fake degree certificates.