The body was found hanging around 9 am by a servant.
AB Wire
Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul,47 allegedly committed suicide this morning at chief minster’s official residence in Itanagar on Tuesday.
“The body was found hanging around 9 am by a servant. He may have committed suicide on Monday night itself,” Arunachal Pradesh DGP S Nithianandam told media.
Police have taken possession of the body and sent it for post mortem. Preliminary investigation did not reveal any foul play.
Reports say that Mr Pul left a diary, which is being examined by the police.
Kalikho Pul, who held the CM’s post for about five months, had left office last month after a Supreme Court ruling ordered removal of his government. But he hadn’t vacated his official residence because his home was being renovated.
Mr Pul was with the congress till late 2015 when he rebelled against then CM Nabam Tuki, along with a large section of legislators from the party; in February, he became chief minister with the backing of the BJP.
Last month, Pema Khandu, son of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu, was elected chief minister in a dramatic turn of events after Pul and 30 other former rebel Congress MLA’s returned to the party.
At Mr Khandu’s oath-taking ceremony, Mr Pul, who was seated in front row, said “I always follow my heart and did what I thought was right. Now the court order has come and I am following the court order.”
Pul, who had a bachelor degree in arts, belongs to the Kaman Mishmi tribe and hailed from Walla village in eastern Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district-among the most backward areas.
He has joined the Congress as a teenager in the 1980s and won his maiden assembly election from the Hayulliang seat in 1995. His portfolios included finance, power and health.
He is survived by three wives and four children.