CHENNAI: A 38-year-old chartered accountant who was working as a treasury manager at LACTALIS India, which owns Thirumala Milk Products Private Limited located in Madhavaram, allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday after he was accused of misappropriating Rs 40 crore from the company. He was found dead inside a thatched hut on a vacant plot owned by him at Puzhal in Chennai.
The deceased, Naveen Bollineni of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, in a purported suicide note emailed to his sister and officials of the company, had accused two company officials of threatening him with imprisonment, a source said.
Following allegations on social media linking Kolathur Deputy Commissioner of Police Pandiyarajan with the death, JCP (West) Disha Mittal has been ordered to carry out an investigation and file a report, a press release issued by the Greater Chennai Police on Thursday evening said.
According to police, an internal audit of the firm found a discrepancy of Rs 40 crore in the company’s accounts. Further inquiries suggested that Naveen had transferred the amount to his personal accounts. When company officials inquired with him, he confessed to the crime and promised to repay the money, police said.
Naveen, who had requested the company not to file a police complaint, later repaid Rs 5 crore to the firm. The company, however, lodged a police complaint in June last week, but no FIR was registered, a police source said.
‘Victim’s mail to sister, dairy firm doesn’t blame cops’
According to police, Naveen must have taken the extreme step distressed over the complaint. “On Wednesday night, he went to the plot in Puzhal. He mailed a letter to his family and company officials saying that he had swindled the amount but was willing to pay it back. But two officials had allegedly threatened him that even if he pays back the amount, he would be sent to jail. He has blamed the two officials for his decision,” a police source said.
After his sister received the email, she alerted the local police who rushed to the plot in Puzhal and recovered the body. It was sent to Government Stanley Hospital for postmortem. Naveen was unmarried and had been living alone at a house in Madhavaram.
The police statement issued on Thursday said Naveen died by suicide on July 9, and his mail, sent to his sister and the company, does not blame the police. He was accused of Rs 40-crore fraud by the firm’s legal manager, who filed complaints on June 24 with the Central Crime Branch and on June 25 with DCP Kolathur.
Both cases are pending, as the complainant had sought more time to submit documents related to the crime, the statement said. Police have not filed an FIR and Naveen has not been questioned or summoned. He had filed for anticipatory bail and the hearing got adjourned twice, the statement added.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s helpline 104 and Sneha suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.)