Unrequited love led SRPF cop posted at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai to end life: Police

Mumbai: State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) constable Kaustabh Sangle (26), who shot himself dead while on guard duty at Lok Bhavan on Monday, was in a one-sided relationship with a female constable, said investigators.

He wrote about the woman in his notebook that investigators recovered from his bag.Sangle (26), originally from Lasalgaon in Nashik, first met her at a coaching centre while preparing for police exams in 2023.On July 2, the woman had submitted an application to Bhayander police stating that Sangle had been threatening to die by suicide if he could not marry her. The woman, in her application, stated that she and Sangle were just good friends and she was engaged to another police constable.

She added that she had blocked Sangle’s phone number in 2024, but he allegedly created a fake Instagram ID and sent a picture of her with him to her fiancé and relatives.Bhayander police had summoned Sangle for inquiry on Tuesday, but he ended his life on Monday.Sangle was attached to the Group 16 SRPF Kolhapur and was on a 45-day duty at Lok Bhavan, Maharashtra governor’s official residence located at Malabar Hill, said police. He resumed duty around 6pm Monday. When his reliever came at 9.10pm, he found Sangle with a bullet injury in the head and blood spread on the floor. He immediately alerted other officials at Lok Bhavan.“We have found the deceased man’s notebook in which he has written six to seven pages about the woman. The last page was perhaps written on Monday,” said a police source.