Former Maharashtra ATS chief Himanshu Roy shoots himself at home with his service revolver

Former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Himanshu Roy committed suicide in Mumbai today by shooting himself with his service revolver.

Himanshu Royallegedly shot himself at his home in Mumbai. He was rushed to the Mumbai Hospital where he was declared dead.

The 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer, who was suffering from cancer, would have been 55 next month. He had gone on a long leave since 2016 on medical grounds.

According to a statement released by the Mumbai Police, Himanshu Roy committed suicide as he was suffering from cancer. The same has been mentioned in the suicide note recovered by the police.

"Unfortunately he was brought dead to the hospital. I knew him personally, he had lost lots of weight due to illness and didn't have the same personality as earlier," Dr Gautam Bhansali, Consultant Physician, Bombay Hospital said.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled Himanshu Roy's death, calling him a "daring officer".

"He was known as a daring officer and had held many important positions. With his demise we have lost a capable officer," the Maharashtra chief minister said.

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.

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 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley, who was involved in carrying out a recce mission ahead of the 26/11 terror strike.

Former Mumbai police commissioner MN Singh described him as a courageous and hardworking officer.

"He was suffering from cancer but he was fighting it. It is very unfortunate that he had to end his life like this," MN Singh told reporters after visiting Roy's family to express his condolences.

(With inputs from PTI)