Mumbai: The deputy commissioner of police (DCP) attached to the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) who shot himself at a restaurant in Thane on Saturday was allegedly drunk when he pulled the trigger on himself.
Sources from the Kapurbavdi police claim that Sanjay Banerjee had already downed five pegs of an alcoholic drink at home earlier that day. “At the restaurant, he took another three to four pegs,” says a police officer monitoring the investigation.
Although he admits that the police are yet to find the motive behind the suicide, the officer rules out the possibility that a financial crunch pushed him over the edge. Banerjee was one of the DCPs who haven’t received their salaries for several months now as the home department is yet to sanction their posts in the ATS.
“True that the family said he hadn’t got his salary in a long time, but there were no major financial problems which would have forced him to take such a drastic step. He had no problems in his married life and he was well-settled,” claims the Kapurbavdi police officer.
But Banerjee’s family alleges that it was work pressure that got to him.
Thane police commissioner KP Raghuvanshi says Banerjee’s mobile phone records have not yielded any clue. “We are yet to talk to his family at length.” He confirms that the DCP had consumed alcohol at home and at the restaurant.
Banerjee shot himself in the right temple with personal licensed 9mm pistol at 4.10 pm on Saturday after he, his wife and two children, aged 14 and 7, had just finished lunch. No other diners were present at the time.
Somendra Sharma/DNA
