Baramati, 19 July

A senior manager with a private bank allegedly died by suicide late Thursday night by hanging himself inside the bank's premises on Bhigwan Road in Baramati, said a police official on Friday.

 According to the Police, the deceased has been identified as Shivshankar Mitra, a native of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, who had been working with the bank for several years.

 According to initial reports, Mitra has been under immense stress for the past few weeks.  He had even discussed his mental state with his family and had submitted an application for voluntary retirement just five to six days ago.

However, on Thursday night, between 10 pm and midnight, Mitra allegedly ended his life after leaving behind a detailed suicide note. In the note, he squarely blamed the excessive work pressure as the reason for his drastic step, a CCTV of the whole incident was also recorded, which has been seized for probe by the police.

Baramati city Police Inspector Vilas Nale, while confirming the incident, stated, "Shivshankar Mitra, the Chief Manager at the Baramati City branch of Bank of Baroda, hanged himself between 10 pm and 12 midnight, last night. His wife alerted us after he failed to return home. When she contacted the bank, the staff checked inside and found him hanging."

 "The body has been sent for postmortem, and further investigation has begun. A suicide note was found in his trouser pocket, where he wrote that he was ending his life due to pressure related to bank work. We are thoroughly investigating the exact circumstances that led to this extreme step," he added.

 The Baramati police have launched a formal inquiry into the matter.