The Himachal Pradesh Police suspect that former Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ashwani Kumar died by suicide, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday. However, the police have not issued a formal statement.

Kumar was found hanging at his residence in Shimla on Wednesday evening. He was 69 years old.

Shimla Superintendent of Police Mohit Chawla confirmed to News18 that Kumar’s body was found hanging by a rope. The police have recovered a suicide note which is being verified with the family, according to NDTV. Kumar’s body was taken to the Indira Gandhi Medical College for a post-mortem.

State minister Sukhram Chaudhary visited Kumar’s house and ruled out any foul play. “His family was at home,” he told reporters. “He was very regular with his evening walks and pooja and I am told he went to the pooja room where this incident happened.”

Retired police officer AP Singh, who succeeded Kumar at the CBI, called the news “absolutely shocking”. “I have worked closely with him as a special director,” he told the Hindustan Times. “He was a gentleman. Never lost his temper. I always found him very pleasant, soft spoken; he never ever said a word to anybody in a raised voice.”

Kumar became the Himachal Pradesh police chief in August 2006, according to information about him on the Nagaland Raj Bhavan website. He became the first police officer from the state to become the director of CBI in 2008. He was in charge of the central agency while it investigated the infamous Aarushi Talwar murder case. He had replaced Vijay Shanker as the CBI director. The team, led by Kumar, had contradicted the findings of the first, which ruled out the parents’ involvement. The second team said the parents killed Aarushi after finding her with Hemraj. The parents were given a life sentence by a CBI court in 2013 but acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in 2017.

Kumar retired from the post of CBI director in November 2010. He then served as the governor of Nagaland from March 2013 to July 2014.