Who was Himanshu Roy

Former Maharashtra ATS chief, Himanshu Roy, a daredevil officer committed suicide by shooting himself at his residence in South Mumbai. He is alleged to have shot himself at around 1.40 pm on Friday.

His staff on hearing the sound rushed himself to hospital where he was declared brought dead. Roy was battling cancer for a year. He had a relapse and had been on leave for close to a year. He had even visited America for treatment.

Roy an alumnus of St. Xavier College Mumbai was born on June 23 1963. He was an IPS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, 1988 batch. He had worked as the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Mumbai. In 2016, he was appointed as ADG, Establishment.

Roy initially went on to become a chartered accountant after passing out in 1985. He then gave his civil services exam and became an IPS officer in 1989.

His first big challenge was the Babri riots. He was posted in Malegaon at that time. He then did a stint in Ahmednagar before being posted in Mumbai in 2001. Between the years 2004 and 2008, he was the police commissioner of Nashik.

One of the most sensational cases he handled including the probe into the IPL betting scam and the firing on fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar's driver Arif Bael. He also probed the J Day murder case.

He is however credited most for leading the investigation into the IPL betting case. He was the one responsible for the arrest of Vindoo Dara Singh for his alleged links with bookies. He was also responsible for the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of former ICC president N Srinivasan and owner of Chennai Super Kings franchise in the same case.

Following this he was transferred to the ATS. He led the team that arrested software engineer Anees Ansari who was trying to blow up the American school at the Bandra Kurla complex. On the administrative side, Roy was instrumental in setting up Mumbai's first Cyber Crime Cell.