BENGALURU: A 52-year-old Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, who had been promoted recently, committed suicide by hanging at his rented flat at an apartment complex in Yelahanka New Town on Sunday. The deceased Avtar Singh, a 1990 batch officer hailing from Haryana, was posted at Aranya Bhavan, Malleswaram, in Bengaluru on July 23 as Additional Principal Chief Conservative of Forest. Police found a suicide note in Singh’s house in which he had stated that he was suffering from bipolar disorder and had been undergoing treatment for the last three years.
Officer was very committed and sincere: Neighbour
“Since there was no improvement in his condition, he was depressed. He has not held anyone responsible for his death,” a senior police officer said. He was living in Prestige Monte Carlo Apartment with his wife and college-going son and daughter. He had earlier worked in many parts of Uttara Kannada district and other places.
Police said Singh ended his life around 9.30 am after he returned from his morning walk. He had even spoken to one of his senior officers, who lives in the same premises, over phone. He had breakfast and went to the bedroom. As he did not come out for long, his wife Mandeep repeatedly knocked on the door, but got no response. She then called her neighbours who broke open the door and found his body hanging. Yelahanka New Town police shifted the body to Ambedkar hospital for postmortem.
In her statement to the police, Mandeep said Singh took the day’s newspaper with him to the bedroom. The family had shifted to the apartment five years ago. Speaking to TNIE, a neighbour said, “Singh used to come for morning walks every day since he had health issues. On Sunday too, we took a walk for about and hour and he spoke to me normally. He was very committed and sincere. As far as I know, he had not complained about his work and was very humble.”Later in the evening, the body was taken to Yamunanagar in Haryana for the final rites which will be held on Monday.