Raipur, Mar 13 (IANS): An Indian Police Service (IPS) official, Rahul Sharma, Monday afternoon committed suicide by shooting himself with his service revolver.

Sharma, an IPS official of 2002 batch, was posted as District Superintendent of Police in Bilaspur. The exact cause that led the IPS official to take such an extreme step could not be ascertained.

Having served in the Maoist-infested Dantewada district, 37-year-old Sharma was transferred to Bilaspur in January this year. Prior to his new assignment, he was district police chief of Raigarh.

Sharma, who was staying in the police officers' mess went to the office in the morning and returned in the afternoon. He asked his gunmen to go and come after two hours. After serving the lunch, the mess staff also left the room.

A senior police official said Sharma shot himself in the head in the bathroom. When the staff did not get response from inside, they broke open the door and saw the official lying in a pool of blood. He was immediately rushed to Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences where the doctors pronounced him brought dead.

The doctors said Sharma was brought to the hospital at about 3.45 p.m.

Chief Minister Raman Singh has ordered a high level inquiry into the incident. "Rahul was a talented young official and his demise is an unfortunate incident," he said, adding that officials have been asked to conduct a high level probe.

Opposition party Congress had alleged that Rahul Sharma had not committed suicide and he was murdered. "The state government should not take the incident lightly as Bilaspur happens to be the den of coal mafias," Leader of Opposition Nandkumar Patel said.

The post mortem would be conducted on Tuesday morning to get the exact cause of death, officials said. Sharma's wife is working as a senior official with the Indian Railway posted in Bilaspur.

State Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar along with senior officials of home department had reached Bilaspur.