Mumbai: Suicide email to Rakesh Maria saves software engineer's life

A software engineer who had decided to end his life was saved by the city's Cyber Crime Investigation Cell, all with the help of an email that he himself had sent to the Commissioner of Police declaring his intentions to kill himself.

On September 29, around 2.30 pm, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria received an email from Bhushan Kharade (name changed) on his official ID, which read, "Frustrated of life, finishing it."

On September 29, Mumbai Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria received an email from Bhushan Kharade (name changed), which simply read, "Frustrated of life, finishing it." The commissioner informed his officers, who handed over the information to Cyber Crime Investigation Cell.

As soon as the commissioner read the mail, he alerted his officers, who then handed over the information to the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell

"We started the investigation as soon as we received the email from Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sadanand Date. The email did not have any address or phone number, and replying to it could have been risky," informed Mukund Pawar, senior police inspector of Cyber Cell division.

Taking help from the Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni, Cyber Cell's Mukund Pawar contacted the Google office in the US and after informing them about the severity of the situation, asked them for the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the person who had sent the email from his Gmail account. They found out that the Internet connection was registered under a woman's name, in Bhandup

Taking help from the deputy commissioner of police, Pawar contacted the Google head office in the US, since the writer had a Gmail ID, and asked them for the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the person who had sent the email.

To avoid the evening traffic, officers from the Cyber Cell decided to take the local train to Bhandup and reached Kharade's house, immediately informing his parents upon arrival. Illustrations/Amit Bandre

"We were given the IP address and found out that the Internet connection was under a woman's name, in Bhandup," said Dhananjay Kulkarni, deputy commissioner of police. "By then, it was 5.30 pm, and we decided to avoid the evening office rush and take the local train to Bhandup, as we did not want to waste any time."

Officers from the Cyber Cell left for Bhandup, and with the information given by Internet providers, traced the 26-year-old's house. "Kharade was in the washroom when we reached his house.

We immediately informed his mother about his intentions and brought him out," said an officer. Kharade revealed that he was depressed, as he was out of work and his three-year relationship with his girlfriend had ended recently.

He didn't want to worry his parents, nor did he want them to be interrogated by the police after he committed suicide, so he had sent the email to the commissioner on the ID that he found online. "We counselled Kharade and he seemed quite convinced when we left the house. His family members will also be keeping an eye on him," added Pawar.