CHENNAI: Chennai City Police Commissioner A Arun on Saturday said there was no political interference in the probe into the death of a treasury manager of Tirumala Milk Products, who was under probe for allegedly embezzling Rs 40 crore from company funds.
Observing that preliminary investigations by the Chennai police have confirmed that the man, Naveen Bollineni, died by suicide, the Commissioner said that city police would consider probing on the lines of abetment to suicide if they find enough evidence after detailed investigations.
Commissioner Arun also stated that, based on inquiries so far, Kolathur DC Pandiarajan was not found to have interacted with the deceased in person. If found otherwise, departmental action would be initiated against him, the officer said.
Madhavaram inspector (Crime) Vijaya Bhaskar has already been moved to Vacancy Reserve (VR) for attempting to contact the deceased without the consent of senior officers, as protocol requires any case involving more than Rs 1 crore be referred to the Central Crime Branch (CCB).
Naveen (38) was found dead on July 9 inside a hut on a vacant plot owned by him in Britannia Nagar in Puzhal. Before taking the extreme step, Naveen had emailed a suicide note to his sister, Lakshmi, and the top management of the dairy firm, blaming his senior officials for his decision. He alleged that they threatened him with imprisonment despite his promise that the embezzled amount would be repaid.
A native of Andhra Pradesh, Naveen was unmarried and was living alone in an apartment in Madhavaram. According to city police, Mohammed Thamimul Ansari, the legal manager of Tirumala Milk Products, had approached the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on June 24, alleging that Naveen had misappropriated Rs 40 crore of company funds.
The CCB had not initiated investigations for want of documents and bank account statements from the complainant. "The CCB registers an FIR only after a preliminary inquiry," a police official said.