Amaravati, Jan 31 (IANS): A police officer shot himself dead in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district on Friday.

Sub-Inspector of Police A.G. S. Murthy shot himself with his service revolver at Tanuku Rural Police Station.

Murthy was sent to Vacancy Reserve (VR) by his seniors recently following allegations in connection with a case.

However, the SI was asked to report for duty in view of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to the district on Friday.

The police officer came to the police station on Friday morning. He sat for some time and then went to the washroom where he shot himself in the head with the service weapon.

On hearing the gun sound, his colleagues rushed to the washroom and found him lying in a pool of blood. The SI was immediately rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead by doctors.

The SI was assigned duty as part of the security arrangements for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to Penugonda on Friday.

The police officer had Thursday collected his service weapon from the Bhimavaram depot of the police department to report to duty.

Murthy was sent to VR three months ago following allegations of dereliction of duty in dealing with a case.

Telugu states have seen a series of suicides by police in recent months.

Telangana Director General of Police Dr Jitender had said last month that there may be several reasons for the suicides by the police personnel.

“There may be several issues like financial issues, family issues, emotional issues, and personal issues. I cannot say this is happening because of one issue. We can’t generalize that it is because of work pressure. There may be some cases of work pressure also,” Jitender said.

The police chief said they were responding to the problem through an internal mechanism. The department has officers who counsel employees having family, emotional and financial issues.

“If we are unable to handle the issue at the department level, we take the help of professional counsellors,” the DGP said.