Hyderabad: Telangana director general of police (DGP) Dr Jitendra on Sunday, December 29, remarked on rising suicides by police personnel saying there may be several reasons for the suicides. He did not agree that work pressure was the reason for the suicides.
“There may be several issues like financial issues, family issues, emotional issues, and personal issues. I cannot say this is happening because of one issue. We can’t generalise that it is because of work pressure. There may also be some cases of work pressure. I am not saying no,” Dr Jitender said while addressing the media at the Telangana police headquarters in Hyderabad.
He also added that an internal mechanism exists in Telangana police to address work-related issues of police personnel. The department has officers who counsel employees having family, emotional, and financial issues. “If we are unable to handle the issue at the department level, we take the help of professional counsellors,” he said.
He reiterated that the Telangana police department is equipped to respond to employee issues.
Two constables die by suicide in Telangana
The DGP’s statement comes amid an increasing number of suicides by Telangana police officials.
On Sunday, a 52-year-old head constable Sai Kumar was found hanging from a tree in the Kulcharam police station in Medak district.
It is said that Kumar had a sip of tea before taking the extreme step. His body was shifted to the government hospital in Medak for postmortem.
Two constables die by suicide in separate incidents in Telangana
In Siddipet, on December 27, a 38-year-old constable, Pandari Balakrishna, who served in the Telangana special police (TGSP) died by suicide after he hanged himself to death in his house.
Before taking his life, he and his wife poisoned their little children – Yashwant, 11, and Ashrith, 9. The wife also consumed the poison.
While Balakrishna died, his wife and children were rushed to the hospital by neighbours. They are currently under treatment.
The reasons for his extreme step have yet to be ascertained. The Siddipet police are probing the incident.
Balakrishna served in the 17th Battalion in Sircila.
In November this year, a 42-year-old traffic police constable died by suicide in Nalgonda.
Telangana traffic police constable dies by suicide in Nalgonda
The deceased police officer was identified as Kankuri Ravishankar, a native of Cheruvugattu village of Narketpally mandal.
He is survived by his wife Swathi, who works as an RTC bus conductor, his mother and Venkatamma and two children.
Ravishankar has been working at the Yadadri district headquarters and had come home for Deepavali leave on October 30.
(With inputs from IANS)
