Punjab: Mother alleges foul play after arrested IAS officer Sanjay Popli's son commits suicide

Four days after the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested IAS officer Sanjay Popli and his accomplice on corruption charges, Popli's only son reportedly committed suicide at their house in Sector 11, here Saturday afternoon.

Chandigarh’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal, said the initial probe showed that Kartik, the 27-year-old son of Popli, had shot himself in the head with a licensed pistol of his father.

The police said they had to forcefully open the door to Kartik’s room on the first floor of the house and rush him to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

The incident occurred when a VB team had come to Popli’s residence in connection with the ongoing investigation of his father’s corruption in the case when Kartik was present.

On June 21, the Punjab VB had arrested Popli for allegedly demanding a 1 per cent commission in bribe for clearance of tenders for laying a sewerage pipeline at Nawanshahr.

However, refuting the police version, an inconsolable wife of the IAS officer Sanjay Popli told the media that the vigilance bureau officials were pressuring her family and they were even torturing her domestic help to give false statements in support of the case they have registered.

She further held that to build the false case, they killed her son and that she would move the court.

It may be recalled that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had arrested director, pensions, Sanjay Popli in a corruption case. The 2008-batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer was arrested in a case pertaining to the allotment of tenders when he was posted as the chief executive officer of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Sandeep Wats, who was posted as the assistant secretary on the board, had also been arrested.