Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Kalikho Pul ‘commits suicide’

August 9, 2016 | Published by : ILT Staff Reporter

Imphal, Aug 09: Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Kalikho Pul was found dead at his official residence today. He was found hanging.

Mr Pul was chief minister for around four months after the state was placed under President’s Rule following a series of dramatic developments that saw the Congress government being voted out by party rebels, along with the opposition BJP.

Last month, the Supreme Court said that the decisions taken between December and March which included placing Arunachal Pradesh under President’s Rule were illegal. The judges set the clock back to when Congress’s Nabam Tuki headed the government.

The top court also ordered the removal of Mr Pul, who had taken over as Chief Minister in February, supported by other Congress rebels as well as the BJP.

New chief minister Pema Kandu was sworn in days later.

Mr Pul was found hanging at the official Chief Minister’s residence, which he had never vacated. Sources say he had asked for time to move out of the home.

After the court order, Mr Pul had said that legally he continued to be the Chief Minister.

News reports suggests that he committed suicide at his residence, but the police is yet to confirm.

Pul had attempted suicide earlier too:

Ironically, his name Kalikho Pul means ‘A Better Tomorrow’.

In this interview to the New Indian Express, the former Arunachal Pradesh CM, talks about being an orphan and attempting suicide…

I suffered from chronic gastric problem for six long years, beginning 1980. I had just `1600 with me. I approached my relatives. One offered just `2 and another `5.

It was then that I realized I was an orphan. One day, I made up my mind to commit suicide and walked up to the bridge over the river Lohit.

I stood there for 36 minutes but couldn’t take the extreme step due to the presence of people, Pul recalled.