Chennai, Oct 12(NIE): D Shankaran, Founder of the Shankar IAS Academy, which has produced hundreds of civil servants during the last 15 years, committed suicide on Friday.

Police sources said Shankaran was found hanging from the ceiling of the fan at his Mylapore residence.

He was rushed to Government Royapettah Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

After post-mortem, his body was handed over to his family members.

Police said family dispute was said to be the reason behind Shankaran taking the extreme step.

His body was taken to the Shankar IAS Academy premises at Annanagar where hundreds of his students paid their last respects.

Later, it would be taken to his native Uthankarai village for last rites.

Shankar IAS Academy, which later turned out to be a reputed institution, was started by him in 2004 at Anna Nagar to train civil service aspirants.

It has turned out more than 900 civil servants, including IAS, IPS and IRS officers.