New Delhi: Tripura’s director general of police, Anurag Dhankar, was found dead at his office in the state police headquarters in Agartala on Monday. He was rushed to Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, where doctors attempted to revive him.
A senior physician at the hospital, Dr Pradip Bhowmik, said Dhankar was brought in around noon with no detectable pulse or vital signs, according to reports. Doctors performed CPR for nearly 48 minutes before declaring him dead at 12.48pm.
The exact circumstances of his death have not been officially established and remain under investigation. Police have registered a case of unnatural death. A magisterial-level inquiry has been ordered.
Tripura BJP president, Abhishek Debroy, said the cause of death would become clearer after the post-mortem report. Opposition leader Jitendra Chaudhury separately called for a judicial inquiry.
Tripura’s chief minister, Manik Saha, went to the hospital following news of Dhankar’s death. He was accompanied by chief secretary, JK Sinha, and other senior officials.
Dhankar was a 1994-batch IPS officer. He took charge as Tripura’s DGP in May 2025, succeeding Amitabh Ranjan, and had previously served as the state’s DGP (Intelligence).
His career included postings with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD). He also served with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, and led an investigation into fugitive businessman Nirav Modi during his time with the CBI.
The development came a day after Dhankar told reporters that the law-and-order situation in Tripura was under control.