Former Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta found dead in Noida, suicide note cites illness
Rakesh Mehta, the retired chief secretary of Delhi, was discovered dead at his Noida residence, with police confirming suicide after finding a note mentioning prolonged illness.
Former Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta, aged 75, was discovered dead at his Noida home on Sunday, with authorities ruling the death a suicide. Police retrieved a handwritten note in which the 1975-batch IAS officer cited prolonged illness as the reason for taking his own life and asserted that no one was responsible. Mehta lived alone in a rented apartment in Kendriya Vihar 2 Society, Sector 82, while his wife, a fellow retired IAS officer, stayed in Dehradun with their children.
After the wife could not contact him on Saturday night, she asked the complex’s security guard to check on him, leading to the discovery at 1:30 pm. The body was handed over to the family after standard legal formalities, and a probe remains ongoing. Mehta had served as Delhi’s chief secretary from 2007, overseeing major reforms and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and was cremated at Lodhi Crematorium on Monday.
How the sides frame it
MODERATE AGREEMENTBoth camps report the former chief secretary's death as a suicide and note the suicide note, but left-leaning coverage highlights the handwritten note citing illness and the ongoing probe, while centrist coverage stresses official statements, the alleged nature of the suicide, and cremation details.
LEFT
Left-leaning coverage foregrounds the suicide note’s mention of illness and notes that a probe remains ongoing.
CENTER
Centrist coverage foregrounds official statements that the death was an alleged suicide and details the cremation.
The left emphasises
- authorities ruled the death a suicide
- handwritten note cited prolonged illness as the reason
- a probe remains ongoing
