Chennai: Founder and CEO of Shankar IAS Academy, Shankar Devarajan (45) committed suicide at his residence at Mylapore here late last night.
According to the police, Shankar, a resident of Krishnaswamy Avenue, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his bedroom at 10.30 pm using a bed sheet.
He was rushed to Isabella hospital were he was declared brought dead by doctors. His body was then sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for post mortem.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that he took the extreme step due to a marital discord. A police source said, There was a misunderstanding between him and his wife Vaishnavi. The duo fought over it often.
Last night, Vaishnavi walked out of the house and called up a family friend and informed about the fight. The friend came home to sort out the differences. Instead, he saw Shankar hanging and rushed him to the hospital.
Mylapore MLA R Natraj, a good friend of Shankar for over a decade and often addressed students at the latter’s academy, said he was still in shock,
Speaking to News Today, Natraj said, “though he prepared for UPSC and exhausted all his attempts, he never lost heart. He started mentoring his sister who became an IAS officer. That was when he thought of sharing knowledge with others. He had mastered the art of cracking the exams though he could not do it himself and helped others. This is really unfortunate, he was a very bright person. He had a meteoric rise in a very short span of time. I do not know why he took this extreme step when he often counselled others. He had helped a lot of poor students.”
A native of Thiruchengode, Nammakal, Shankar is survived by wife and two daughters aged 11 and 6.