‘Roy sought time to talk to mother and shot himself in adjoining room’ 

C.J. Roy, founder and chairman of Confident Group, based out of Dubai, was in his hometown Bengaluru on a business visit when Income Tax sleuths raided his Group. While the raids had been on since Wednesday, Mr. Roy reached his Langford Town office on Friday afternoon. It was even while the raid was under way that he allegedly shot himself and died.

There is no clarity whether he was summoned by the IT sleuths.

His brother Babu C.J., speaking to media persons, said when he spoke to Mr. Roy on Friday around 11 a.m., he was in his office and “sounded normal”.

A senior police officer part of the probe said that as per their preliminary probe, the IT sleuths questioned Mr. Roy in the afternoon, after which he reportedly asked permission to make a phone call and talk to his mother. She stayed in Koramangala, where Mr. Roy was building a bungalow for himself, sources said.

Mr. Roy went into an adjoining room, from where he usually officiated as the Honorary Consul for the Slovak Republic for Karnataka and Kerala. Minutes later, people in the office heard a gunshot, sources said. Mr. Roy had shot himself in his chest with a pistol and was found lying in a pool of blood, sources said.

There is no clarity yet on how many rounds were fired and whether the firearm was licensed. Senior police officials said that the weapon would be subjected to a ballistic examination, and only that report would throw more light on the same. However, his brother Mr. Babu said that Roy had bought a pistol 20 years ago for self-protection and was licensed.

Congress leader Mohammed Nalpad, one of the first to reach Narayana Hospital, HSR Layout, where Mr. Roy was taken, described him as a “father figure”. “He was such a confident man, inspiring others, including me. I am shocked that he took his life,” he said. “His family, consisting of his wife, son and daughter, are based in Dubai and will reach the city by Saturday,” he said. 

Brother blames IT raids  

Mr. Roy’s brother Mr. Babu said his brother shared everything with him and they spoke everyday.

“There were no problems in the business. There was pressure from the Income Tax raids, which may have pushed him to take the extreme step,” he said. “IT sleuths came to my house as well on January 22 and asked for a lot of documents, which I gave. But the raids put my brother under stress. But when I spoke to him at 11 a.m., Friday morning, he sounded normal. I don’t know what they asked him and what pushed him over the brink,” he said.