High-profile Mumbai police officer Himanshu Roy commits suicide

MUMBAI: Himanshu Roy, former Maharashtra ATS chief and additional director general of police, committed suicide by shooting himself with his service revolver at his Malabar Hills residence in Mumbai on Friday.

Mumbai police, citing his suicide note, said the 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer took the extreme step "out of frustration" due to his illness.

"Roy was on medical leave for the last two years as he had cancer and the suicide note, in his own handwriting makes it clear that he ended his life out of frustration due to this illness," a police statement said.

Roy, who is survived by his mother and wife, would have been 55 next month.

According to reports, the senior officer put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

Roy, an IPS officer of 1988 batch, was bleeding when brought to Bombay Hospital where he was declared dead.

Roy was considered a fitness enthusiast and had been on leave since 2016.

The officer had served in elite groups of the Maharashtra police, including as chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and in the Crime Branch.

Roy is credited with being involved in the solving of a string of prominent cases, including the murders of journalist J Dey, fringe Bollywood actor Laila Khan and law graduate Pallavi Purkhayasta in Mumbai.

He was also part of the team which pursued leads related to American-born LeT terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike.

Roy, who was joint commissioner of police (Crime) from 2012-2014, 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.