LS official found dead at Noida flat; suicide note mentions Rs 70 lakh loan

A 40-year-old officer posted as Joint Director in the Lok Sabha’s reporting branch was found dead at his flat in Kendriya Vihar-II in Gautam Buddha Nagar’s Noida Phase 2 on Sunday. According to police officials, a suicide note was also recovered from the premises that mentions a loan of approximately Rs 70 lakh.

The deceased has been identified as Gaurav Gautam. The Noida Phase 2 police received information through a hospital memo on August 2 that a 40-year-old man had been brought for treatment and declared dead, with doctors stating he had died by suicide. A Field Unit and forensics team were dispatched to the scene.

“The body was sent for a post-mortem examination after inquest proceedings. Further legal action is underway,” police said.

The circumstances in which Gautam was found paint a picture of a Sunday that began ordinarily and ended in tragedy. His wife was not at the flat when he died. When she returned and found the door unanswered despite calling and knocking, she contacted a security guard for assistance.

Together they entered the flat and found Gautam unresponsive. He was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

A police officer confirmed that the ID produced by the family shows his designation as Joint Director, Lok Sabha, Parliament of India. He was serving in the reporting branch of the lower house, which handles the transcription and documentation of parliamentary proceedings, one of the most precise and demanding administrative functions within Parliament’s secretariat.

The suicide note recovered from the flat specifically references a loan of around Rs 70 lakh. Police said the contents of the note are being examined in detail. Whether the loan was from a bank, a private lender, or individuals, and whether there were specific pressures linked to its repayment, are among the questions investigators are trying to establish from the note and from interviews with family members. A Rs 70 lakh debt is a substantial financial burden for a Government servant, even a senior one at the Joint Director level.

While Joint Directors in Parliament’s secretariat are senior officers who draw salaries commensurate with their seniority, a loan of this magnitude can create repayment pressures that accumulate over time, particularly if the loan was taken at high interest or from multiple sources simultaneously.

The investigation will attempt to establish the full picture of Gautam’s financial situation, including whether there were demands for repayment that had intensified in the period before his death. Kendriya Vihar-II in Noida is a residential colony largely inhabited by central Government employees, its name reflecting its character as a Government housing complex.

Parliament’s secretariat is among the more insulated and stable employers in the central Government establishment, with defined career paths and service protections. That a Joint Director in this service was carrying a burden large enough to end his life raises questions about the informal financial systems, including informal lending and borrowing that can develop within even stable employment communities, and about the support mechanisms available to officers under financial stress.