Agarwaltimes - Exam duty constable shoots self with rifle

Shaikh killed himself while guarding Class 12 exam papers on night duty, left no suicide note behind; colleagues suspect rape charges made against him in 2010 had stressed him out in recent months.

In a shocking incident, a 55-year-old police constable — deployed at the Vimalabai Garware High School in Deccan as security during the ongoing Class 12 examination the institute is hosting — allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with a service rifle.

Though no suicide note was found at the spot, police officials stated that the cop, identified as Azam Ali Chand Shaikh, had been facing rape charges for the last five years, which might have resulted in him taking the extreme step.

The deceased constable was attached to Pune police headquarters at Shivajinagar. Since question papers to be distributed to students taking the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams at the moment have been locked into a strongroom at the high school, Shaikh had been deployed to guard them.

Shaikh had been place on night duty, and had arrived at the school on Thursday night. Around 9 am on Friday, when the constable on the day shift arrived, he found Shaikh lying in a pool of blood in the storeroom.

Additional commissioner of police (crime) Shahaji Solunke, who visited the spot, said, "Prima facie, it seems Shaikh kept the barrel of his self-loading rifle under his chin and pressed the trigger. There was no other person inside the room when he fired."

Deccan police, who registered the case, said the reason behind his alleged suicide was not clear.

Senior police inspector Pravin Chougule, in charge of Deccan police station, affirmed, "We found no suicide note at the spot. Shaikh was attached to Pune police HQ and we are now inquiring with officers there to investigate why he would kill himself."

However, according to some police officials who knew Shaikh, he had been undergoing bouts of stress for long, due to the case of rape registered against him in 2010, when he was attached to Bund Garden PS.

The complainant, a housekeeper, had claimed that Shaikh had raped her multiple times on the pretext of eventually marrying her.

Following this, Shaikh was not only arrested but also suspended. He was reinstated in service in April 2014. According to his colleagues, Shaikh had been looking tense for the last few months.

Agarwaltimes