Navy sailor death case: Police probing suicide angle

Maharashtra Police is probing the suicide angle into the death of the Navy official who succumbed to his burn injuries in Palghar, on February 6, said Dattatray Shinde, Superintendent of Police, Palghar on Wednesday.

"We found that Suraj Kumar Dubey (27) had invested money in the share market and took a loan which he couldn't repay. To escape from this situation, we suspect he made up his abduction story," said the SP.

He said that during the investigation, police found CCTV footage of the Dubey buying fuel at a petrol pump.

"We're probing into the suicide angle. Before his death, he gave a statement against three persons who abducted him from Chennai airport at gunpoint and later burnt him alive in jungles of Vevaji in Palghar, Maharashtra," Shinde added.

Dubey, a Navy official succumbed to burn injuries on February 6

Police had earlier said, "Dubey was kidnapped from near the Chennai airport and taken to the jungles of Vevaji in Palghar. The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh to release him, but the demand was not fulfilled by the kin of the Navy official. Enraged at this, the kidnappers set the man on fire and left him to die in the jungle."

Based on Dubey's statement before his death, the police had filed a case against three unidentified persons.

( With inputs from ANI )