Two suicides in a single day rocked Ranchi on Thursday as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), serving with Criminal Investigation Department (CID), ended his life by hanging himself because of work pressure. He also alleged frequent transfers as a result of his failure to grease the palms of seniors.
The other incident was the death of an engineering student of BIT-Mesra, Deoghar extension — also by hanging. He was under intense stress due to academic pressure. Earlier, a doctorate student of BIT-Mesra had also hanged himself from his hostel room on Tuesday.
“DSP Chandi Kumar Maitra (59) hanged himself from the ceiling of his house with his wife’s dupatta at AG Colony,” said Doranda Police Station officer in-charge.
“Maitra had been posted in CID from district police in Ranchi on September 22, 2012 and within a four months, he was transferred to Bokaro and given an additional charge of Hazaribagh. He was overburdened due to regular shifting,” said a policeman. He is survived by his wife, two children.
Family members also revealed that he had to bear shifting expenses and was struggling to bear them along with his son’s engineering course in Bangalore.
After an autopsy, the DSP’s body was taken to CID headquarters at Rani Kothi, where he was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. last rites would be conducted only after his children reach the capital.
According to official sources, Maitra was handling at least four important cases, including the Palamau encounter where Maoists had planted a body bomb.
Meanwhile, first year student Nikhil Chaudhary had made an unscheduled visit to Ranchi on Tuesday, saying he did not find study interesting anymore, according to his family members. “Nikhil (20) reached Ranchi by hiring a car and told his parents that he does not want to study. He hanged himself today,” said Argora Police Station Sub-Inspector P Kumar. Prima facie, academic pressure is being considered the prime factor, but further investigation is on.