Hyderabad, Oct 9 (IANS) : A police constable allegedly died by suicide in Telangana’s Jogulamba Gadwal district on Friday, officials said.
Venkateshwarlu (27), a constable of Telangana Special Police (TGSP), hanged himself at his residence in Erravalli.
According to police, Venkateshwarlu was serving in the 10th battalion of TGSP in Gadwal.
Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the constable took the extreme step due to family problems.
The state has witnessed a series of suicides by police personnel. Last month, a 35-year-old police constable died by suicide at his residence in Hyderabad.
M. Chandrasekhar, who was working as a writer at the Amberpet Police Headquarters, reportedly made a video call to a woman around midnight and told her that he was going to hang himself.
The woman alerted the police, but by the time the police reached his house, he had already hanged himself.
In August, a 25-year-old police constable died by suicide at the LB Nagar ACP office in Hyderabad. J. Sai Kumar, who was working at the e-cops desk at the ACP office, left two letters addressed to senior officials, stating that he did not like his present posting and wanted to return to his previous duties at the LB Nagar Police Station.
In July, a head constable allegedly died by suicide after shooting himself with his service weapon at the Telangana Police Headquarters. Swamy (40), a native of Nalgonda district, was posted at the DGP office.
Concerned over the spate of suicides by police personnel, Director General of Police C.V. Anand made a special appeal to the 93,000 police personnel on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10.
The DGP asked them not to resort to suicide as a way out of financial or personal problems. He cautioned them against alcohol, drugs and marijuana and urged them to stay away from other social vices.
The police chief appealed to the police personnel to consider the impact of such a decision on their spouses, children, and parents who depended on them. He urged them to face difficulties with courage, share their problems with their families and colleagues and seek timely help instead of taking the extreme step.
Debt incurred through online betting has been found to be one of the primary causes of the suicides in the past four months.
The DGP appealed to the personnel to stay away from betting and seek help when facing financial difficulties.
The police chief stated that it was particularly distressing to see young and middle-aged constables taking their own lives after falling into debt through online betting. In the two cases, the police personnel had sold land, borrowed money from friends and colleagues or taken loans at high interest rates.
