<p>Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul committed suicide at the chief minister’s official residence in capital Itanagar on Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Pul, 47, who was recently unseated as chief minister by Pema Khandu through a Supreme Court ruling, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his residence he was to incidentally vacate on Tuesday, official sources added. He is survived by three wives and seven sons.<br /><br />“His family members and servants told us that he did wake up fine. Later, his body was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room where he used to do yoga. We have also recovered a suicide note from the room where Pul committed suicide. We have begun investigation,” Arunachal Pradesh DGP S Nithianandam told DH over the phone from Itanagar.<br /><br />As the news of Pul’s suicide spread, people took to the streets and shouted slogans against the Khandu-led government, blaming the lawmakers for betraying Pul and driving him to suicide. <br /><br />They also laid siege to the chief minister’s residence and destroyed a coffin brought for taking Pul’s body.<br /><br />The mob vandalised the official residences of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and Industries Minister Tapang Taloh located close to the chief minister’s bungalow, and also destroyed some parked vehicles, the police said.<br /><br />Pul’s supporters demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and sought Khandu’s resignation.<br /><br />Pul’s body has been sent for postmortem and the police have seized his notes and dairies, sources said. <br /><br />The situation in Itanagar is tense but under control, the sources added.<br /><br />Pul had led the dissident group of Congress MLAs to oust the Naban Tuki government. He had been the chief minister for little more than four months after the President’s rule was lifted from the state. But he was unseated by the Supreme Court’s order on July 13, which reinstated Tuki as the chief minister.<br /><br />As Tuki decided to step down, the Congress dissidents, who had defected to the People’s Party of Arunachal, agreed to return and Pul lost the numbers. Eventually, Khandu became the chief minister on July 17.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Khandu on Tuesday called an urgent Cabinet meeting, which decided to declare a three-day state mourning and accord a ceremonial funeral with full state honours on Wednesday in his native Hawai village in Anjaw district.<br /><br /> “We are in a state of shock. He was our senior colleague and a very capable politician and a mass leader. This is a big loss for all of us” Khandu told reporters in Itanagar. He also ordered a magisterial enquiry into Pul’s death to investigate whether there was any “foul play”. <br /><br />Pul, who represented Hyuliang constituency in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, had held in various portfolios in the state, including finance, power and tribal affairs minister, before becoming the chief minister. <br /><br />He had been the state’s longest serving finance minister.</p>
<p>Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Kalikho Pul committed suicide at the chief minister’s official residence in capital Itanagar on Saturday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Pul, 47, who was recently unseated as chief minister by Pema Khandu through a Supreme Court ruling, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his residence he was to incidentally vacate on Tuesday, official sources added. He is survived by three wives and seven sons.<br /><br />“His family members and servants told us that he did wake up fine. Later, his body was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room where he used to do yoga. We have also recovered a suicide note from the room where Pul committed suicide. We have begun investigation,” Arunachal Pradesh DGP S Nithianandam told DH over the phone from Itanagar.<br /><br />As the news of Pul’s suicide spread, people took to the streets and shouted slogans against the Khandu-led government, blaming the lawmakers for betraying Pul and driving him to suicide. <br /><br />They also laid siege to the chief minister’s residence and destroyed a coffin brought for taking Pul’s body.<br /><br />The mob vandalised the official residences of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and Industries Minister Tapang Taloh located close to the chief minister’s bungalow, and also destroyed some parked vehicles, the police said.<br /><br />Pul’s supporters demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and sought Khandu’s resignation.<br /><br />Pul’s body has been sent for postmortem and the police have seized his notes and dairies, sources said. <br /><br />The situation in Itanagar is tense but under control, the sources added.<br /><br />Pul had led the dissident group of Congress MLAs to oust the Naban Tuki government. He had been the chief minister for little more than four months after the President’s rule was lifted from the state. But he was unseated by the Supreme Court’s order on July 13, which reinstated Tuki as the chief minister.<br /><br />As Tuki decided to step down, the Congress dissidents, who had defected to the People’s Party of Arunachal, agreed to return and Pul lost the numbers. Eventually, Khandu became the chief minister on July 17.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Khandu on Tuesday called an urgent Cabinet meeting, which decided to declare a three-day state mourning and accord a ceremonial funeral with full state honours on Wednesday in his native Hawai village in Anjaw district.<br /><br /> “We are in a state of shock. He was our senior colleague and a very capable politician and a mass leader. This is a big loss for all of us” Khandu told reporters in Itanagar. He also ordered a magisterial enquiry into Pul’s death to investigate whether there was any “foul play”. <br /><br />Pul, who represented Hyuliang constituency in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, had held in various portfolios in the state, including finance, power and tribal affairs minister, before becoming the chief minister. <br /><br />He had been the state’s longest serving finance minister.</p>
