IPS officer booked for abetting banker's suicide in UP

Ayodhya, Oct 31 (IANS) Former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ashish Tiwari has been booked for abetting the suicide of a woman banker, who was found hanging from the ceiling of her rented room in Ayodhya on Saturday.

The deceased Shraddha Gupta, 32, was a deputy branch manager in the Punjab National Bank.

Along with Tiwari, a police constable Anil Rawat and a Balrampur resident, Vivek Gupta, have also been booked for abetment to suicide after a complaint was lodged by the deceased banker's father, Rajkumar Gupta, at Faizabad Kotwali police station late on Saturday evening.

The first accused, Vivek Gupta, was scheduled to marry the banker, but the engagement was cancelled in April last year after Shraddha raised questions on his character.

All three accused have been named by Shraddha in her suicide note, which was recovered by the police, hours after her body was sent for autopsy.

The banker had categorically claimed in the suicide note that the two policemen and Vivek Gupta were responsible for her suicide.

According to the police, Shraddha joined as a clerk at the PNB in 2015 and rose through the ranks to become an officer in 2018.

She was staying alone at a rented house, adjacent to the bank branch in Faizabad.

On Saturday morning, when the milkman knocked at Shraddha's door and found no response, he informed the landlord. When there was no response after repeated knocking, the landlord peeped through a side window to find her hanging from the ceiling.

Ayodhya SSP Shailesh Pandey has confirmed that the FIR has been lodged and investigations are underway.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has demanded a high-level probe in the matter.

"The way the female PNB employee in Ayodhya has cast direct accusations at police personnel in her suicide note is a bitter truth about the poor law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. It is a very serious issue that even an IPS officer's name is surfacing in this. There should be a high-level judicial inquiry," he said.