Shimla, Oct 8 (IANS): President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday condoled the demise of former CBI Director Ashwani Kumar who died in the Himachal Pradesh capital.

In a message to his wife, Kovind praised his professionalism, competence and integrity as a police officer and his administrative ability in gubernatorial roles assigned to him in Nagaland and Manipur.

Kumar, who was also former Nagaland Governor, committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence here.

He was cremated here with full state honours on Thursday.

The police have ruled out any foul play in the suicide.

In his four-paragraph suicide note, except referring to his disease and wishing his family well, Kumar has not blamed anyone for his death.

It is learnt that the former state Director General of Police was under depression for some time.

After his retirement from the CBI, Kumar had settled down in Shimla and worked briefly for a private university located near here as its chancellor.

He along with his wife was seen strolling in the evening in the city, a neighbour told the police.

A 1973-batch IPS officer, Kumar is survived by his wife and son.

Kumar served as DGP of the state between 2006 and 2008 before being appointed director of the CBI for two years.

He served as Governor of Nagaland from 2013 to 2014. During this period, he was briefly also the Governor of Manipur.