‘Injury was visible right up to skull’

Mumbai: Senior IPS officer Himanshu Roy shot himself in the mouth and the resultant injury was visible right up to his skull, a doctor who first examined the deceased officer’s body said on Friday.

“The patient was brought dead. He looked much thinner compared to what he was before and he had even grown a beard. He had shot himself inside his mouth and the bullet injury was visible right up to the skull,” Dr Gautam Bhansali, consultant physician at Bombay Hospital said. He said that two other doctors, a Casualty Medical Officer (CMO) and a neurosurgeon, were also present when Roy’s body was brought to Bombay Hospital. When asked if the bullet was stuck inside the skull, Dr Bhansali said it was not visible from the outside but the post-mortem would give more details. “After declaring him dead, we sent the body to Gokuldas Tejpal  Hospital for post-mortem,” he said. Bhansali added that Roy’s wife and the the police officer’s bodyguards had brought his body to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the sudden departure of the senior IPS officer Himanshu Roy left the police fraternity and the state political leadership of the state in a state of shock.

The IPS Association, which has a Twitter handle for its Pan India officers of the elite services expressed their grief stating, “In a big tragedy, we lost one of our very bright officers Sri Himanshu Roy, IPS of 1988 batch Maharashtra, today. A fierceley brave officer, his loss is irreparable. Our condolences & prayers to friends & family.”     Roy was known for the  rock solid backing that he offered to his junior officers when it came to detection and cracking down on crime.  “It was a golden era for the Mumbai crime branch which sent shockwaves into the minds of gangs, punters and the underworld alike. He would give us the leeway to tackle the situation as per our understanding, which was the best a chief could do. It gave brilliant results,” said an ACP level officer, who refused to come on record.