Police have found group chairman of Panchshil Hotels, Ajay Chordia's suicide note, in which he accuses an IAS officer of harassing him and forcing him to take the extreme step
A day after the Pune-based industrialist and group chairman of Panchshil Hotels, Ajay Chordia committed suicide, the police found a suicide note in which he blamed a Mumbai-based IAS officer for driving him to commit suicide.
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Hotelier Ajay Chordia
Top police officers are now investigating the role of that IAS officer in connection with a land deal being executed by Chordia. On Monday, the 48-year-old was found hanging near the fire extinguisher in the smoking zone on the 11th floor of the Chinchwad-based hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton.
Chordia was rushed to the hospital as soon as a hotel staffer found him hanging, but he was declared dead on arrival. File pic
At present, the Pimpri police have registered a case of accidental death and are investigating further. The police are yet to confirm the details of the suicide note, or reveal the name of the IAS officer reportedly mentioned in it.
Chordia was found hanging by a curtain near the fire extinguisher on the 11th floor of one of his group’s hotels on Monday
However, a police officer said on condition of anonymity, “We have recovered a suicide note from Chordia’s trouser pocket during the inquest panchnama. The suicide note is written in English and consists of one page. He has apologised to his family members and written about his love and blessings for them. He also suggested that his family members donate his organs.
And at the end of the note, he blamed a Mumbai-based IAS officer who was formerly associated with the PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation), and said that the officer was harassing him and had ruined his life.”
“The investigation is being led by an IPS cadre officer. In the meantime, our police are gathering information about various land deals and other business deals in which Chordia was involved. We have learnt that the officer had sought some information under the Right to Information Act, and was blackmailing Chordia.
We are probing those possibilities too. We have interacted with the doctors who were treating Chordia to understand the reason,” said the officer, adding further, “in the meantime, our team has scrutinised his call details and other communication, and also inspected the CCTV camera footage of the hotel where he was found hanging.
In the footage, Chordia is seen carrying a stool from the passage, which he kept near the fire extinguisher. He then brought a blue curtain, tied it across the pipeline along the ceiling, and strangulated himself.” Police Commissioner Satish Mathur said, “My officers are probing the case and cannot reveal any information at this stage.”
After a hotel staffer found Chordia hanging and alerted his son, Pratik, he was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead. The post-mortem was performed at Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital yesterday evening, and the cause of death was determined as strangulation.
“On Tuesday, Chordia’s funeral was held in Pune, and we are yet to record the statements of relatives and other persons,” added Prakash Mutyal, Additional Commissioner of Police (North region).
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