Ashwani Kumar, former Governor of Manipur and Nagaland, and ex-CBI Director, was found dead at his residence in Shimla on Wednesday, police said. He was 70. According to the district police, Kumar allegedly died by suicide at his residence in Shimla. He was found dead at his house in Brockhurst around 7 pm, an official said. The police have shifted the body to the Indira Gandhi Medical College for a post-mortem examination, and initiated inquest proceedings under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code at the Police Station East in Chhota Shimla.
The 1973-batch IPS officer had served as the governor of Nagaland between 2014 and 14. He was also the governor of Manipur briefly in 2013. Ashwani Kumar was the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation between 2008 and 2010. During his term at the CBI, he had dealt with the high profile Arushi-Hemraj murder case. Ashwani Kumar was CBI director when the agency had arrested Amit Shah in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing case in Gujarat. Earlier, he served as the DGP of Himachal Pradesh from August 2006 to July 2008.