Joint Secretary in the health ministry Lav Agarwal's brother has been found dead in UP's Saharanpur district on Monday evening. Ankur Agarwal's body was found in Pilkhani area under mysterious circumstances. A licensed pistol belonging to the deceased was recovered from the scene, raising suspicions of suicide, reports say.

Ankur's body has been taken to the district hospital for post-mortem. Further details from the investigation are yet to be revealed.

chalk outline
(Representational Image)Twitter

Speaking to the media, Superintendent of Police (Rural), Atul Sharma, said the Saharanpur Police received information about a dead body found in the nearby farm in Pilkhani. The police did the investigation and informed the relatives. He added that the investigation is underway.

Possible suicide, unconfirmed reports

"A licensed pistol was recovered near the dead body. It is possible he (Ankur) died by suicide, but we will be able to confirm only after the investigation is complete," Sharma, IPS, was quoted as saying.

According to reports, Ankur is the brother of Lav Agarwal, 48-year-old IAS officer from 1996-batch of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He is the joint secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and has been the face of daily COVID-19 briefings held by the Union Ministry since the initial days of the coronavirus outbreak.