Silchar, June 28: A top official of a non-banking financial institution with operations in Assam committed suicide by jumping off the Guwahati-bound Saraighat Express in Jalpaiguri yesterday while he was being escorted by police to Karimganj for an alleged funds swindle.

Sailen Das, 40, the chairman-cum-managing director of the Bengal-based SMS Adibol Limited, was picked up from his home in Barasat on the outskirts of Calcutta on Wednesday by a joint police team from Karimganj and Bengal after his company had failed to pay investors.

Yesterday morning, Das sought permission from the three policemen escorting him to go to the toilet. After emerging from the toilet, Das suddenly made a dash for the door and leapt to his death.

Karimganj district additional superintendent of police, Hemanta Kumar Das, today said the police were yet to receive the final report about the incident from Bengal.

Das’s company had been luring people to invest in a scheme with the promise of “fabulous returns” for the past few years.

Wooed by Das’s agents, a good number of people in the Barak Valley, particularly Karimganj, invested in SMS Adibol Limited, which had opened several branches in south Assam. The company went bust last year and began defaulting when investors claimed their returns.

Karimganj SP said there would be an inquiry to find out if there had been any “dereliction of duty” on the part of the policemen who accompanied Das.