On Sunday, Head Constable Rohtas Singh arrived to assume charge as duty officer of the Barakhamba Road police station at 10.20 pm. Fellow officials in the police station say it was almost an hour and half before his eight-hour shift began at midnight, and it was slightly unusual.

But they did not find anything unusual in his behaviour as Singh ordered food and sweets and shared it with other policemen on duty.

At exactly 11.07 pm, sitting in a corner, he shot himself with his service revolver.

Singh was 49.

Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Shankar Dash said seven other policemen were present but Singh’s gun went off before they could realise what was happening.

A senior officer said they are yet to hit upon the reason why Singh took the extreme step, for he had “seemed pretty fine when he signed in for duty”.

Family members, though, claimed Singh was under immense work-related stress. Son Arvind Singh said, “He often complained of excessive hours at work.” Son-in-law Vijender Singh also said there could be no personal reason behind Singh taking his own life.

The senior officer said, “We are trying to ascertain the reason and are questioning family, specially his son, to know exactly what had gone wrong.”

A fellow police official at Barakhamba Road police station said the 1961-born Singh had joined the department quite early — he was just 19. “Singh was a very good officer and did an exceptional job when posted at Modern School,” the official said.

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