Ex-IPS officer blames Mamata Banerjee in suicide note; TMC terms charge baseless

Kolkata: Retired IPS officer Gaurav Chandra Dutt, who committed suicide on February 19, held the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee responsible for his death in his suicide note. However, the state's ruling TMC dismissed the charge terming as "baseless".

However, the opposition did not leave any stone unturned to slam Mamata Banerjee for the alleged suicide of the senior police officer.

Former TMC leader Mukul Roy demanded Banerjee's arrest for abetment to suicide and urged for a CBI probe into the case.

Roy, who is currently a BJP leader, also stated this was the first time in the history of West Bengal that a senior IPS officer committed suicide and blamed the government or a party leader.

CPI(M) politburo member and Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Salim claimed that only yes-men officers are favoured in the state presently and that Dutt could not learn this art, hence the IPS officer had to take such a drastic step just after his retirement.

Congress President Somen Mitra expressed his grief towards his family and said that the political vendetta drove him to depression and then compelled him to take an extreme step.

According to reports, on February 19, Dutt -- before slitting off his wrist -- wrote in the letter that Mamata Banerjee had kept him on "compulsory waiting" and withheld his dues after he retired on December 31, 2018, which provoked him to commit suicide.

His wife returned home to find him in a pool of blood at his Salt Lake home. He was immediately taken to the hospital but did not survive.

Retired IPS officer Gaurav Chandra Dutt’s wife said her husband had sent the letter to a few close friends as well.

Dutt, in February 2010, was allegedly suspended for nine months after the wife of a constable complained that Dutt had tortured her husband because he had refused the officer's sexual advances. He had again faced disciplinary action for alleged financial irregularities in 2012.