IAS officer Ashish Dahiya drowned in swimming pool of civil services training institute
Highlights
- IAS officer drowned in pool of a training institute in south Delhi
- Ashish Dahiya reportedly jumped in to save woman colleague during a party
- His family has asked for an investigation, claims he was good swimmer
A young Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer drowned in the swimming pool of a training institute in south Delhi last night, reportedly after he jumped in to save a woman colleague at a party. The officer's family has asked for an investigation, saying that he was a good swimmer.
Ashish Dahiya, 31, was with around 25 civil services batch-mates last evening at the Foreign Service institute when the tragedy took place. They were celebrating their last day of training at the institute. At some point, they reportedly decided to go for a swim in the institute's pool. The police suspect they had been drinking.
Witnesses say a woman officer slipped and fell into the pool and many, including Mr Dahiya, jumped in to save her. She was pulled out safely, but everyone soon realized that Mr Dahiya was still in the pool. Soon, he was seen unconscious and floating.
A medical officer was called and there were attempts at reviving him with CPR before he was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead around 1 am. The police say by the time they arrived, the officer had been taken to hospital by his colleagues.
Mr Dahiya's family, which has come down from Haryana's Sonepat, suspects something wrong and has called for an independent investigation. His wife Pragya is a doctor.
Mr Dahiya was Deputy Superintendent of Police in Himachal Pradesh when he sat for his civil services exam in 2015 and was selected for the IAS. The promising officer later decided to go for the IFS and cleared it.
The institute complex was off-limits to the media today as a team of senior police officers visited it to collect evidence like CCTV footage and record statements.
"It looks like a case of death due to drowning, we can't comment on foul play until a post-mortem is done," said senior police officer Ishwar Singh. A three-member medical board has been set up for the autopsy, he said.