17-yr-old shoots himself dead with dad’s gun

Bengaluru: A 17-year-old II PU student shot himself in the forehead with his father's licensed gun in his Doddabommasandra residence, off Tumkur Road, North Bengaluru on Monday afternoon. Jitendra Chandrashekar, the only son of former Border Security Force soldier Chandrashekar and gas agency employee Geetha, was a commerce student of MES College, Malleswaram. He is suspected to have taken the extreme step over some academic problems. The teenager was found dead in the house by Vidyaranyapura policemen, who rushed to the scene after neighbours complained to the control room about a loud sound heard from the residence that was locked from inside. "We heard the sound at around 12.45pm. We called Geetha and also the police control room," a neighbour said. The policemen broke open the door only to find the boy lying dead in the bedroom. His father's double barrel gun lay next to the body. Mother Geetha too arrived at the scene within minutes. Jitendra, in fact, had called his mother around 12.30pm, saying he wanted to talk to her. "He was crying loudly. He said he had some issues and wanted to talk. When I asked what it was, he just told me to come home soon. He disconnected the call. I called him again after five minutes but he didn't answer," she told police later. Geetha immediately left for home and midway, a neighbour called her and informed her of the loud noise from her residence. Geetha's worst fears came true when she arrived home. A suicide note in Kannada was recovered from the spot. It read: "Mother, if there is something called rebirth, I shall be born as your son again." Chandrashekhar, who works as a security supervisor with a private company in Peenya, told police that he, Geetha and Jitendra left home around 8.30am and his son was normal. "He told me he had accountancy paper for the preparatory exam and he was prepared well. He was normal like any other day," Chandrashekar said. College authorities, however, said Jitendra never appeared for the day's exam and was facing attendance shortage. "He was irregular to college. We consolidated the attendance till December and found he had attendance shortage. We had spoken to his mother about it . She always appeared worried about her son but never elaborated what it was. She said he used to be with his friends instead of going to college. The attendance till February is considered for deciding whether a student is eligible to sit for the exams. He did not have any other problems with academics," said a senior faculty from MES College, adding the boy was an average student. "He had attendance issues last year too. But this time it was bad. He cleared his first year in supplementary," the lecturer said. Police said it was a case of suicide. "The main door was locked from inside. To confirm suicide, ballistic experts checked the scene. In such cases, gun powder will be on the palms of the deceased," police added. Chandrashekhar had worked with BSF as soldier before taking voluntary retirement, while Geetha is an office assistant with a private gas agency in Malleswaram. -TOI