Three govt employees arrested over subordinate’s suicide in Jammu

Three government employees were arrested on Saturday for the suicide of their subordinate near Jammu earlier this week, a police official said.

Puran Chand (55), a helper in the Irrigation Department, was found engulfed in fire in an open field near Ring Road Prithvipur on November 10, the official said. He said Chand was rushed to the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries.

After registering a case, the investigations revealed that Chand allegedly took the extreme step after constant mental harassment, including withholding of his salary for the past few months by his seniors in the office.

The CCTV footage was obtained from the cameras covering the route taken by Chand while he was travelling on his motorcycle. The footage shows him arriving at a filling station in RS Pura, where he filled petrol in a plastic container and proceeded towards Miran Sahib where he set himself ablaze, the official said.

Three employees of the Irrigation Department — Surjeet Kumar (Incharge Ziladar), Girdhari Lal and Ram Murti alias Sani — have been arrested in the case, he said.

In another case, the police arrested a tractor driver for allegedly running the vehicle over a couple in the Marh area of Jammu on Friday, resulting in the death of Vikram Singh and critical injuries to his wife Vaishno Devi. The police identified the arrested accused as Ranjeet Singh, a relative of the deceased.

Vikram was working in his field along with his wife when an argument over land ownership erupted among family members, a police spokesman said, adding the accused allegedly entered the field on a tractor, and deliberately ran the vehicle over the couple before fleeing the scene.