Mumbai: Former top cop and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Himanshu Roy allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself here on Friday, police said. The 1988-batch IPS officer allegedly shot himself at his residence with his service revolver at 1:40 pm, Financial Express reported. The reason for suicide is not yet known. He was reportedly suffering from cancer.
Roy, who also served as additional director general of police (Establishment) and handled the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, was rushed to Bombay Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Himanshu was the joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014 and is credited with leading the investigation into the IPL betting scandal. He was then transferred to the state ATS. During his tenure as the agency’s chief, software engineer Anees Ansari was arrested for allegedly planning to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex.
In 2015, after he and other police officers wrote to the Maharashtra home department about the poor treatment by seniors and favouritism in transfers, he was sidelined and moved to the role of additional director general in charge of police (Housing). He took a long leave on medical grounds, months later, an NDTV report mentions. He had seven years of service left.
He had solved many high-profile cases, the IPL spot-fixing being the last major one, in which he was responsible for the arrest of Vindu Dara Singh.
Roy was also involved in cases like Journalist J. Dey murder case, the double murder case involving Vijay Palinode, firing on Iqbal Kaskar’s (Dawood’s brother) driver Arif Bael and the recent murder case of Pahlavi Purkhayasta. He is also credited for initiatives like setting up the first Cyber Crime Cell in Mumbai, devising anti-dacoity measures in rural Maharashtra and setting up a special cell dedicated to deal with crimes related to women.
Condolences have started pouring in. Milind Deora, former MP, tweeted “Shocked to learn about Himanshu Roy’s untimely passing.” He added that Roy was a capable IPS officer and would be missed.
Shocked to learn about Himanshu Roy’s untimely passing. I would jokingly call him ‘Hercules Roy’ because of his overawing athletic build. Only recently, I messaged him to enquire about his health. He was a capable IPS officer & will be missed. May his soul rest in peace
— Milind Deora (@milinddeora) May 11, 2018
M.N. Singh, his superior at a point, said, “He was a very bright officer. Such a tragedy,”
Firstpost reports that former police commissioner of Mumbai, Arup Patnaik, rued that he is shocked by the turn of events. “This was completely unexpected. I found him very sharp, very polished, very sophisticated. He was a fitness freak. He was very mature and cool-headed,” he said.
Patnaik further added, “Roy had been suffering from cancer for the past three years. It was detected quite late when he noticed a swelling on his body. The cancer had spread to his bones. To his credit, he continued to work even then and only took leave in the past two years. I was in touch with him and, in fact, he had asked me three months ago for a reference to get an expert opinion. I had referred him to a doctor and it was then after check-ups it was found that the cancer had spread to his brain. The option was to go in for surgery, but I think Roy knew there wasn’t much hope for him. That must be why I think he shot himself. This is my hunch. Of course, a police investigation will reveal the details as it was an unnatural death.”
(With PTI inputs)