In a shocking incident, Maharashtra’s Additional Director General Police (DGP) RK Sahay sustained 60 per cent burns when he allegedly attempted to commit suicide at his Malbar Hills residence here on Saturday night.
Fifty-two-year-old Sahay, who reportedly sustained 60 per cent burn wounds, was rushed from his first floor flat at Avanti Apartments on the Narayan Dhabolkar Road to Bombay Hospital, in the small hours of Sunday. Having sustained severe wounds on his face, chest and back, Sahay is treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) 0f the hospital, where his condition was described as “stable” on Sunday evening.
Informed police sources said that Sahay had set himself on fire in his room of his flat. Noticing the fire emanating from his room, his family members extinguished the fire and rushed Sahay to the Bombay Hospital in a severely burnt state. “Sahay was taken from his residence to the hospital with severe burns at 1.30 am on Sunday. He is being treated in the ICU. His condition is critical but stable. A team of doctors is attending on him,” a senior police official said.
The reasons behind Sahay attempting to commit suicide was not immediately known. In a statement issued during the day, the city police said that they could not record Sahay’s statement, after the doctors attending on him at the Bombay Hospital told them that the “under treatment” IPS officer was not in position to speak to the investigating officers. The police also said that they could not record the statement of Sahay’s family members as they were not in a right state of mind to do so.
A 1986-batch IPS officer, Sahay is currently heading the Maharashtra State Police Housing & Welfare Corporation limited. He had hit headlines after he, in his the then capacity as the vigilance officer of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), had investigated the irregularities allegedly committed by senior IAS officer Deepak Kapoor, in the MSRTC.
On his repatriation from the Centre to Maharashtra, a politically influential Kapoor — who was the private secretary to Praful Patel when the latter was the Minister of State for Civil Aviation — did a brief stint with the CIDCO, before being posted as the Managing Director of MSRTC, where he worked for nearly three years. Out of the MSRTC, Kapoor is now awaiting a new posting.
While in the MSRTC, Sahay was not comfortable working under Kapoor, who is an IAS officer of the 1991 IAS batch, as he considered the latter as his junior. Both had reportedly exchanged letters while in the MSRTC. Sahay was reportedly under pressure from certain quarters after he submitted his inquiry report to State Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) on the alleged irregularities involving Kapoor, some time ago. Based on his report, the State ACB has ordered an open inquiry against Kapoor.
On their part, the police steadfastly refused to divulge details on the circumstances leading to Sahay’s attempted suicide. Informed official sources, however, attributed Sahay’s suicide attempt to the tension he was undergoing at his work place. Meanwhile, senior State and city police officials visited the Bombay Hospital and inquired about the condition of Sahay.