Mystery shrouds alleged suicide by police officer

NONGPOH: Mystery shrouds the death of Police Sub-Inspector PJ Marbaniang posted at Patharkhmah Outpost under Nongpoh PS, who succumbed to his injuries while on his way to a hospital in Guwahati early Sunday.
Marbaniang, who was recently posted at Patharkhmah Outpost, allegedly shot himself with his service revolver at his official quarter at around 9 pm on Saturday.
On hearing the gunshot, police personnel rushed to his quarter and saw him lying in a pool of blood while his 9 mm service revolver lying beside him.
He was immediately rushed to Patharkhmah CHC from where he was referred to Guwahati but was pronounced dead at the hospital there.
On Sunday the postmortem was conducted at Nongpoh Civil Hospital. Later, the doctor revealed that the bullet had entered from the forehead and had exited from the back of his head.  Highly placed sources, however, have questioned the suicide angle and have revealed that on Friday, Marbaniang had detained 32 trucks illegally transporting coal to Assam without any pass or challan or any valid document.
The sources alleged that it was not possible that Marbaniang had suddenly become so depressed that he took his own life, and that too, only 24 hours after the seizure of trucks, which clearly indicates that he was in a perfect stage of mind and was executing his duties properly.
The sources also divulged that Marbaniang had made a call at his in-law’s place at around 8:40 pm that lasted for a few minutes.
Demanding an in depth investigation to ascertain the truth behind the death, the source said, “Pressure on him to release the coal trucks cannot be ruled out.”
The Ri-Bhoi Police has already launched an investigation into the incident.