Mumbai, Mar 24: A deputy commissioner of police with the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, Sanjay Banerjee, shot himself at an eatery in Thane on Saturday afternoon in front of his wife and children. The motive for the suicide remains unclear.
According to the Kapurbavdi police, it was Banerjee's idea to go out for lunch and the 47-year-old had taken his family to the Goa Portugesa restaurant. In the middle of the lunch, at around 3.30 pm, he suddenly whipped out his pistol and shot himself several times.
In his ATS job, the DCP looked for patterns in data collected from interrogation reports of terrorists across the country. He played an important role in the August 1, 2012, Pune blast probe, one of his last assignments. However, Banerjee had faced some controversy after former Mumbai commissioner Julio Ribeiro alleged that the police postings of Banerjee, the son of a police officer, were backed by politicians.
"Banerjee was at the restaurant with his wife Sushmita (40) and sons (6 and 14). They had ordered drinks and lunch, which had already been served. All of a sudden, Banerjee pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head," said an officer with the Thane police.
Banerjee had just nibbled a starter and was to start his lunch when he shot himself. He was rushed to the Thane civil hospital, where he was declared dead before admission.
"The family members were the only customers in the restaurant at the time as there is usually a lull before the evening crowd. I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud boom. I rushed out thinking something had fallen and saw the customer half sprawled in his chair with blood gushing from his head," said an employee of the eatery.
"The weapon that Banerjee used was his personal pistol. We have registered an accidental death report for the moment and are conducting further inquiries. The picture will be clearer once the family has given a detailed statement following his last rites. No suicide note was found on his person," said senior inspector B R Chaudhari, Kapurbavdi police station.
A police officer said the elder son had testified that there had been no argument between his parents and that Banerjee's suicide was quite sudden. Thane Police Commissioner K P Raghuvanshi said they were looking into this angle. "It is too early to comment at this stage."
Banerjee's phones are being checked to see who all he had talked to recently.
Several senior police officers, including ATS chief Rakesh Maria, rushed to Banerjee's house and were present there till evening.
Banerjee was suffering from blood pressure, and though a "relaxed" officer, stress had begun to catch up with him, an officer who worked with him said.
In December 2009, the State Human Rights Commission had issued a notice to Banerjee in connection with the arrest of a woman television actor for drinking and playing music in her own home in Kandivli. She was arrested for "behaving indecently in public".
In August 2006, Vinod Bhat, an assistant commissioner of police probing the 7/11 Mumbai serial blasts and attached with the ATS, had been found run over by a Thane-CST local train near Dadar station. With the police making no breakthrough, it was assumed to be a suicide.
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