Former Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Barua, who was quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last month in connection with the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam, shot himself dead here on Wednesday.
He reportedly shot himself in his residence in Guwahati's Barowari locality. Family members rushed him to a private hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Confirming his death, Guwahati's Senior Superintendent of Police A.P.Tiwari said Barua had shot himself with his .32 licensed -revolver at around noon. He said investigations were still on and post mortem findings were still awaited.
Barua headed the Assam Police from July 2009 to January 2012. Senior Assam Police officials and his relatives rushed to his residence on hearing the news of his death.
The CBI has till now registered 48 cases, including four in West Bengal and 44 in Odisha, in the alleged chit fund scam.
A host of high profile names, including West Bengal's Minister Shyamapada Mukherjee, actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen, Trinamool parliamentarian Ahmed Hassan Imran and former IPS officer Rajat Majumdar have been grilled by the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate in connection with this case.
The Saradha Group operated a Ponzi scheme offering massive returns of 40 percent and more until it collapsed last year, leaving lakhs of small investors bankrupt in West Bengal and Odisha.
The Supreme Court had handed over the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case to the CBI in May 2014.