‘Surprising’ that Confident Group’s CJ Roy could ‘lay hands on gun’ during income tax search: Kerala CM demands judicial probe

On the I-T Department’s operations, Vijayan said, “Intrusive action may be required in rare cases, as the situation warrants, [but] there needs to be exercise of extreme caution while initiating, conducting and concluding such actions. From the reports that are coming, it seems a lack of required diligence has resulted in the loss of the precious life of an entrepreneur.”

He also said it was surprising that Roy could access a gun during the I-T operation. “It is surprising that the person, on whose premises I-T officials were conducting a search and seizure operation, could proceed to lay hands on a loaded gun and shoot himself when tax department officials were going ahead with their operations,” Vijayan said.

“While being in complete agreement that tax evasion is a serious problem and every effort has to be taken to curb it, no action leading to loss of a precious life, as happened in the case of Roy, can be justified in a civilised democratic society,” the Chief Minister added.

A senior tax official had told The Indian Express that Roy had given a statement to the Income Tax Department on Thursday. His death came a day later, while tax officials were on his premises. “Income Tax officials were on another floor, where they were operating a prohibitory order. Roy was on a different floor when the incident happened. I-T officers immediately called off the operations after the incident,” the official said.