Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Agartala: Tripura Director General of Police Anurag Dhankar died by suicide on Monday inside his office washroom at the State Police Headquarters in Agartala. Security personnel heard a sound between 11:30 a.m. and 11:40 a.m., broke open the locked door, and discovered the 60-year-old officer hanging. He was rushed to GB Hospital where doctors administered CPR for 48 minutes before pronouncing him dead at 12:48 p.m.
A 1994-batch IPS officer, Dhankar had been in charge of the state police force since May 2025. Dr. Pradip Bhowmik of GB Hospital noted that the officer arrived in critical condition. Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha confirmed that a preliminary post-mortem report indicates death by hanging, though officials are awaiting final forensic results. Investigators found a dupatta in the washroom and noted that a wall-fixed metal rod served as the hanging point.
State authorities have registered a case of unnatural death. Acting DGP G.S. Rao, who was appointed as the interim head of the police force, announced that an inquiry committee will be formed to review the circumstances. “The committee will begin its work shortly and will function strictly in accordance with law,” Rao stated.
Tributes were held Tuesday at the Civil Secretariat, where Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu and Chief Minister Saha paid their respects. The government observed one day of state mourning, flying the national flag at half-mast. Dhankar’s mortal remains were flown to New Delhi for transport to his native village in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, for final rites scheduled for Wednesday. A three-member police team, including IG (Law and Order) M. Ipper, Traffic SP Kanta Jangir, and the Commandant of the 2nd Battalion of the Tripura State Rifles, accompanied the body.
The death has sparked political tension. Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chowdhury of the CPI(M) demanded a judicial inquiry led by a sitting High Court judge, claiming the atmosphere in the state over the last eight years had caused the DGP to appear “deeply distressed and uncomfortable.” Chowdhury dismissed the prospect of a CBI probe, alleging the agency is politically compromised. The Chief Minister declined to comment on the judicial inquiry demand, maintaining that the law will take its course.
Dhankar’s distinguished career included work with the CBI and the Central Industrial Security Force, leading a UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, and supervising investigations into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Punjab National Bank fraud. He is survived by his wife and a son living in Canada. Two mobile phones belonging to the officer remain missing as the investigation continues.
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