Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Agartala: Tripura Director General of Police Anurag Dhankar is dead. Security staff found the 1994-batch IPS officer hanging in his office washroom at police headquarters in Agartala on Monday. Staff discovered him between 11:30 am and 11:40 am after hearing an unusual sound.
Doctors at GB Hospital performed CPR for nearly 48 minutes before declaring him dead at 12:48 pm. Dr. Pradip Bhowmik confirmed the severity of the case. "The DGP was practically brought dead to the hospital. Even so, as per protocol, CPR and all necessary emergency treatment were given for a long time before he was declared dead," Bhowmik said.
Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha confirmed a preliminary postmortem established death by hanging. The state government declared a day of mourning and suspended official functions. Dhankar’s body was flown to New Delhi with state honours on Tuesday. His funeral is set for Wednesday in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.
Acting DGP G.S. Rao announced an inquiry committee to investigate the circumstances of the death. A team including the Traffic SP, the IG of Law and Order, and the Commandant of the TSR Second Battalion accompanied the remains to Uttar Pradesh. The officer’s brother, Vivek Dhankar, received the body in Agartala, while his son traveled from Canada.
Dhankar, who took charge in May 2025, held an 11-month service extension. His career included roles with the CBI, CISF, and a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He previously led the SIT for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Punjab National Bank fraud investigation.
Opposition figures remain skeptical of an internal police probe. CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman demanded a judicial inquiry led by a sitting Tripura High Court judge. MLA Birajit Sinha joined the call for an independent investigation, citing a need for transparency. Protesters marched through Agartala on July 23, reaching the Chief Minister’s residence to demand answers.
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