Bengaluru: A 59-year-old senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer BM Vijay Shankar, who was reportedly involved in the Rs 4,000-crore IMA Ponzi scam, allegedly committed suicide at his residence in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening.
Vijay Shankar, the former deputy commissioner of Bengaluru urban district, was found hanging in a room on the first floor of his residence at Jayanagar by his wife. The body has been sent to a state-run hospital for autopsy.
The 59 years old IAS, was accused for allegedly accepting a bribe to hush up the IMA Ponzi scheme case.
In 2019, Vijay Shankar was taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government for allegedly accepting a bribe to hush up the IMA Ponzi scheme case. Besides Shankar, five directors of I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) were also arrested and jailed last year.
The Karnataka cadre officer was suspended from service when he was Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district after he admitted to having taken Rs 1.5 crore bribe from the IMA scam kingpin Mohammed Mansoor Khan though he alleged to have sought Rs five crore from the latter, said an official.