IAS Officer’s Wife Who “Eloped” With Gangster Returns Home, Dies By Suicide

She eloped with a gangster nine months ago. On Saturday, the 45-year-old woman returned to her IAS husband’s home in Gujarat, where she tried to kill herself. The woman, Surya Jay, died during treatment at a hospital a day later, on Sunday.

The incident was reported from Sector 19 in Gandhinagar.

The husband, Ranjeet Kumar, who is a secretary at Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission, had instructed the domestic staff that his wife, who is involved in a child abduction case, should not be allowed in the house, said police.

Sources say Surya might have gone to her husband’s home to evade arrest from Tamil Nadu police in the kidnapping case of a 14-year-old boy in Madurai.

According to Mr Kumar’s advocate, Hitesh Gupta, the couple had separated in 2023 and were heading for a divorce.

“Ranjeet Kumar had gone out to finalise his divorce petition with Surya on Saturday. Upset at not being allowed in the house, she ingested poison and called up 108 (an ambulance helpline number),” said police.

The cops also found a purported suicide note in Tamil but declined to provide details.

The woman’s name featured in a case with her rumoured gangster boyfriend, Maharaja High Court, and his aide Senthil Kumar. The case relates to an alleged kidnapping of a boy on July 11 over a monetary dispute with the child’s mother. They had demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore but the Madurai police managed to rescue the boy. The cops had launched a manhunt for those involved, including Surya.

Meanwhile, the woman’s husband has refused to take her body.

(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)