IAS academy founder Sankaran ends life

According to police, his wife Vaishnavi left the house with their two daughters on Thursday evening after a heated argument with him and stayed at a facility in Egmore. 

Later in the night, Vaishnavi called one of her friends over phone to inform about the fight, and asked him to check on Sankaran. “It was the family friend who sensed trouble after checking the house. Immediately, Vaishnavi was informed. She rushed to the house and found Sankaran dead,” police sources said. He had used a bedsheet to hang himself. 

Even as police officially confirmed that domestic quarrel forced Sankaran to end life after preliminary investigations, sources indicated that financial transactions with a woman was the point of conflict between him and his wife. Hailing from a poor family, Sankaran had married Vaishnavi, his college mate, after a long struggle. She had stood with him through thick and thin. 

After post-mortem examination, his body was placed in his academy for the public to pay homage. Later, the body was taken to his native in Nallagoundapalayam in Tiruchengode.

“Sankaran was an IAS aspirant who went up to the final interview but could not clear the final hurdle. He decided to make use of his training experience and started the academy with just 34 IAS aspirants 14 years ago. Now, the academy coaches more than 1,000 students in each shift. He used to teach eight hours daily and motivate the candidates,” noted senior IPS officer Dr C Sylendra Babu, Additional Director General of Police, who had visited the academy to give lectures to IAS aspirants. It is ironic that the man who had motivated hundreds of people to come up in life had committed suicide, the officer noted.