An ex-IPS officer in Kolkata had committed suicide on Tuesday. According to reports, Gaurav Dutt, a 1986 batch IPS officer, was found in a pool of blood at his residence. On Wednesday, the Kolkata police stated that from the preliminary post-mortem report, it was evident that Dutt had committed suicide.
Dutt’s wife had stepped out of their house in Salt Lake with their pet dog. When she returned, she had reportedly found Dutt in a pool of blood. Dutt was brought to a hospital bleeding profusely from a slit wrist. He was declared dead within an hour.
As per the latest reports, it has been revealed that Dutt has held CM Mamata Banerjee responsible for his death in a suicide note. He has alleged mistreatment by the TMC government.
As per reports, Dutt has written in his suicide note, “The vindictiveness of this chief minister is unparalleled. My honest hard-earned savings have been blocked”. Dutt had taken voluntary retirement last year. He had applied for the release of his pension and other dues like provident fund and gratuity which totals to almost Rs 72 lakhs but was unable to get the funds released.
Dutt had a doctorate in land reforms. His father Gopal Dutt was a 1939 batch IPS officer who became the chief security officer of former PM Indira Gandhi in the late sixties. Gopal Dutt was also one of the first officers who were recruited for RAW.
Gaurav Dutt, as per a report in The Week, was the SP of the undivided Midnapore district when 1999-2000 the Keshpur political massacre had taken place. TMC and left front leaders had engaged in the brutal onslaught and many people were massacred. The TMC government later had initiated two departmental proceedings against Gaurav Dutt.
Dutt has reportedly written in his suicide note that while one case file was deliberately lost and no corruption charges could be formed in the other case, he was denied leaves, training, and deputations for years. He has stated that he was singled out and harassed.
Dutt has written that Mamata Banerjee has “victimised him for 10 years” and went all out to “demoralise him due to her single-minded vendetta for reasons best known to her”. Dutt’s note has mentioned that CM Mamata Banerjee is directly responsible for his suicide.
Dutt has written that West Bengal has a “Toxic and hellish” environment where not a single IPS officer can dare to open his mouth.
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Dutt has also reportedly held many of his fellow IPS officers guilty for harassing him and ignoring his requests ‘to please the CM’. Over Mamata Banerjee’s recent dharna at Espalande against CBI, Dutt has written that it was all for show and the officers sitting with her have got palatial bungalows and SUVs for their support.
Citing his alleged harassment and suffering as the reason, Dutt has written, “I decided to take the drastic step to highlight genuine problems faced by honest officers in West Bengal, and other parts of India.”
The BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry over the officer’s death and the allegations leveled by him.