BANGALORE: Sqn Ldr Baldev Singh (Baldy), former director Corporate Planning-Marketing, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has committed suicide, concludes the police, ruling out any foul play. The Chikballapur police in Karnataka, who investigated the death of Baldy, one of Indian’s finest test pilots, have now closed the case after getting the final post-mortem report.
This is in tune with what the police and the doctor had told an Express Investigation Team in November 2011. Baldy’s body was found hanging from a tree at an isolated spot near Nandi Hills on October 11.
Dr B V Diwakar, senior specialist with Chikballapur District Hospital, who conducted the post-mortem procedure, had kept his final opinion pending for want of results from Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) . “We’ve got the report of the chemical samples which were sent to FSL on November 4. It is now a clear-cut case of suicide by hanging. No poison was found during the FSL tests,” Dr Diwakar told Express.
A 10-member police team headed by B Iyyanna Reddy, Investigating Officer and Sub-Inspector, Chikballapur Rural police station, was handling the case. “It is now officially closed from our end. We have informed the Taluk Executive Magistrate by filing the B-Final Report. His death is caused by asphyxiation due to hanging,” Iyyanna Reddy said.
When asked about the chances of the case being re-opened, considering that neither the police nor HAL went behind the reason for Baldy to take such an extreme step, Reddy said: “If someone comes forward and says that it needs to be re-opened from a suspicious angle, then we will be willing to investigate from a different angle.”
Baldy’s close friends, who were first shocked by his death and later shattered by the decision of HAL not to investigate the case, refused to comment on Sunday.