IAS officer Ashish Dahiya (30), who drowned while saving a woman at the swimming pool of Foreign Club Institute in South Delhi’s Ber Sarai on Sunday night, was cremated at his native Matindu village in Haryana’s Sonepat on Monday evening. The entire village gathered to bid adieu to the young officer.
Dahiya was a 2016 batch IAS officer who was allotted the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. He had secured 53rd rank in the UPSC exam. A family member said he was to join his service in Srinagar on Wednesday as an assistant collector.
“Since their batch was separating and everyone was to join services in their respective cadres, they had decided to hold a get-together party. We were very happy for him. But unexpectedly we got a call from Delhi Police telling he has died after water entered his lungs,” Dahiya’s uncle Mitter Sen said.
Prior to becoming an IAS officer, Dahiya was working as a DSP with Himachal Pradesh Police in Sirmaur district. He had received the sword of honour and the best trainee award from Himachal ADGP.
However, his aim was to serve the country via IAS, his uncle said. He gave the UPSC exam from Himachal and secured 411th rank to join the Indian Revenue Services as assistant commissioner (Customs and Central Excise) in Hyderabad. In his second attempt, he secured 53rd rank and fulfilled his dream. He was recently awarded the director’s gold medal in the IAS passing-out training.
{{/usCountry}}However, his aim was to serve the country via IAS, his uncle said. He gave the UPSC exam from Himachal and secured 411th rank to join the Indian Revenue Services as assistant commissioner (Customs and Central Excise) in Hyderabad. In his second attempt, he secured 53rd rank and fulfilled his dream. He was recently awarded the director’s gold medal in the IAS passing-out training.
{{/usCountry}}Ashish had studied engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra. He is survived by his wife Dr Pragya Dixit, an MBBS, who was preparing for IAS service as well. A family member said Ashish was helping his wife clear the exam. She couldn’t stop crying seeing her husband’s body and kept hugging him. In a Facebook post, Ashish dedicated his gold medal to his wife, saying “whenever she is around, good things happen.”
Ashish’s father is a retired Haryana government employee and mother is a retired teacher. He has an elder brother, who is settled abroad.
The police suspect officers might have consumed alcohol while partying on Sunday night. Eyewitnesses have told that a woman trainee slipped into the pool after which many officers, including Dahiya, jumped in to save her. While she was pulled out, Dahiya’s body was found floating on the surface.