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A 38-year-old chartered accountant, facing charges of misappropriating ₹40 crore from the firm where he worked, was found dead in Puzhal. Recovering a mail allegedly written by him, the police said it was death by suicide.

The victim has been identified as Naveen Bollineni, 38, a native of Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. He was working with Lactalis, a multinational dairy products corporation that had acquired Thirumala Milk Products Pvt. Ltd.

When senior executives of the firm audited the accounts submitted by Naveen, they found that he had swindled over ₹40 crore. The company then lodged a complaint with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in Kolathur, Pandiarajan, who ordered an interrogation. However, Naveen died by suicide.

In the mail written by him, he said he decided to take the extreme step since two persons had threatened him with imprisonment even if he returned the money. He confessed to the embezzlement and said he wanted to repay the amount – ₹5 crore of which on June 26. He also named the top executives of the firm as responsible for his death, the police said.

He sent the note to the staff of the firm and his sister on Wednesday night. Subsequently, his sister alerted the Madhavaram and Puzhal Police Stations. Following this, police traced him to a hut on a vacant plot at Britania Nagar in Puzhal. On reaching the spot, the police found him dead and sent his body to Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem. Further investigation is on.

In a statement, the city police said the inquiry into the misappropriation had neither begun, nor was Naveen called to the station.

The police said Naveen had not mentioned anything about the police in the mail. Since allegations against Pandiarajan began to rise on social media, the Joint Commissioner of Police, West, has been asked to inquire into the DCP’s role and submit a report.

(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)