Cop shoots self at Sena Bhavan

Two hours into his 12-hour shift guarding Sena Bhavan on Sunday, 42-year-old Police Sub-Inspector Pradeep Mane went down to the rest room on the ground floor, took out his service revolver and fired one bullet into his temple.

The fourth Mumbai policeman to commit suicide this year, Mane had been depressed about his finances.

After 15 years on the force, he was still earning only Rs 17,000 per month. A few years ago, he borrowed about Rs 4 lakh from friends and family to help pay for his two children’s education.

He had been unable to repay the loan and had become “extremely depressed”, according to his elder brother Ashok.

Finally, as the symptoms of stress, fatigue and lethargy worsened, he decided to go to Pune for a month and seek treatment from his other brother Suresh, a general practitioner.

Sunday was his first day back at work after a break of 40 days.

“Mane had been working 12-hour shifts at the Shiv Sena party headquarters for two months,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Balkrishna Bhange.

“He did have a lot on his mind, but there was no immediate cause for him to commit suicide.”

All policemen have stress, I guess the tolerance levels are different, Bhange added.

Mane is survived by wife Usha, 16-year-old daughter Puja, who just passed her Class 10 exams, and son Maharishi, a Class 5 student.