Patna: A young Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer committed suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train late on Thursday evening, officials said on Saturday. The victim was identified as Mukesh Kumar Pandey. He had been serving as the District Magistrate of Buxur. It is the first case of suicide involving an IAS officer in Bihar.

Officials said Pandey, a promising official, had left for Delhi on Thursday morning saying that his maternal uncle had suffered a serious heart attack. On reaching Delhi, however, he checked into a posh hotel and sent a message to his relatives on WhatsApp stating his intent to commit suicide by jumping off the tenth-floor building of the hotel.

By the time the man’s family members alerted police and they rushed to the said hotel, he had already reached Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and taken the extreme step, police said. Police recovered his severed head and mutilated body from the railway track late on Thursday night.

The police recovered a suicide note from the official’s pocket, which mentioned about a detailed suicide note kept in his bag in the hotel room. “I am Mukesh Pandey, IAS 2012 batch, Bihar cadre presently posted as DM [District Magistrate], Buxur. I am committing suicide of my own volition and, after my death, please inform my relatives about my suicide,” said the hand-written suicide note recovered from his pocket. The note also mentioned four contact numbers to be informed of his death.

The suicide note recovered from the hotel room stated that the official was “fed up with life and my belief in human existence is gone”. 
Reports suggested the official was mentally disturbed due to prevailing tensions within his family. His father-in-law has an automobile business in Patna and his wife was said to be handling the business, as per media reports.

Ironically, the official had joined as a district magistrate barely a week ago and it was the first major posting in his administrative career after several low-profile tenures.

The victim was a very promising official and had secured 14th position in the coveted Union Public Service Commission exams, considered among the toughest competitive tests in India to select officials. He hailed from Saran district in Bihar.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the official’s death. “Mukesh Kumar Pandey’s death is a very heart-rending incident. He was an efficient administrator and a sensitive officer... May his soul rest in peace,” the chief minister said in his condolence message.