Suspended IAS officer BM Vijay Shankar found dead at his home in Bengaluru; case of unnatural death registered, probe underway

A senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official BM Vijay Shankar, who was facing allegations of corruption in a Ponzi scam, was found dead at his residence in Bengaluru. While several media reports have said that he died by suicide, The News Minute quoted Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao as saying, “We have registered a case of unnatural death and the matter is under investigation. Cause of death cannot be concluded as suicide yet.” [caption id=“attachment_8517771” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] File image of suspended IAS officer BM Vijay Shankar. News18 Kannada[/caption] The report quotes the police as saying that the time of his death is suspected to be around 7 pm. Vijay Shankar’s body has been taken to the Victoria Hospital’s morgue, where an autopsy will be performed, the report added. The CBI had registered a case of corruption against Vijay Shankar, a former District Commissioner of Bengaluru, in the I Monetary Advisors (IMA) Ponzi scam, and the officer was under suspension due to the case. Vijay Shankar was accused of accepting a bribe of at least Rs 1.5 crore from IMA founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan by a special investigative team constituted by the state government, a Hindustan Times report said. According to the report, he was handling matters related to the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act at the time of his arrest. He had allegedly accepted a bribe of at least Rs 1.5 crore  to give a clean chit to IMA and Khan.