Assam Home Secretary IPS Officer Shiladitya Chetia Shoots Himself Following Wife’s Death

Guwahati, 18th June 2024: Assam Home and Political Secretary Shiladitya Chetia, a 44-year-old IPS officer and recipient of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry, fatally shot himself with his service weapon in the ICU of a private hospital in Guwahati on Tuesday. This tragic incident occurred just minutes after the death of his wife, Agamoni Borbaruah, who had been battling cancer.

Chetia’s wife, Agamoni Borbaruah, 40, passed away at Nemcare Hospital at 4:25 PM. Barely 10 minutes later, Chetia entered her ICU cabin and requested the medical staff to allow him some privacy to pray beside his wife’s body. Shortly after the staff left the room, a gunshot was heard.

“We rushed in and found him lying beside his wife’s body. We tried to save him but couldn’t. He had shot himself,” said Nemcare’s MD, Hitesh Baruah. Agamoni had been receiving treatment at the hospital for about two months. “Three days ago, her condition deteriorated. We explained her condition to Chetia, and he understood,” Baruah added.

The couple, who had an arranged marriage in 2013, did not have any children.

Former Assam Police DGP Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta, now the state’s chief information commissioner, expressed deep sorrow over the incident. “He was like a younger brother to me,” Mahanta said, who arrived at Nemcare shortly after the incident. “His life was full of problems… He lost his mother and mother-in-law not long ago. He was caring for his wife and had been in Chennai for her treatment. I was in touch with him and there was no indication that he would take this step.”

DGP G P Singh announced Chetia’s death through a post on social media platform X. “In an unfortunate turn of events, Sri Shiladitya Chetia, IPS 2009, Secretary Home and Political, took his own life this evening, a few minutes after the attending physician declared the death of his wife who was battling cancer for a long time. The entire Assam Police family is in deep grief,” he wrote.

Shiladitya Chetia, whose father was also a police officer, had served as Superintendent of Police in Tinsukia, Nalbari, Kokrajhar, and Barpeta districts. Known for his bravery, he led multiple operations against criminal and terror outfits, earning the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry on Independence Day in 2015. Agamoni, too, was an achiever, having studied English and foreign languages at Tezpur University, where she was a topper, according to a family source.