Patna, Jan. 27: Depression drove a 30-year-old M Tech student to suicide, as he hung himself in his apartment in the state capital late last night.

Ashwani Pratap Singh was a student of Mumbai-based Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research. He was staying there for several years, pursuing his studies and also working part time.

Though no suicide note has been recovered, Ashwani had been constantly messaging his elder brother Arvind Singh, the president of the BJP’s sports cell in the state, pleading him to “save him”.

“I don’t know what made him take such a step. For quite some time now, he was messaging me saying he was not feeling well, asking me to save him somehow. On Monday, he sent a similar message. At home we were utterly confused and worried,” the elder brother said.

After getting the text message from Ashwani on Monday, Arvind immediately called him to ask what the matter was.

“He did not say anything clearly. He just kept weeping. When I asked him whether he had money, he replied in the negative. Then I transferred Rs 20,000 to his account and asked him to go to Pune, where our sister lives with her husband. He agreed to it and drove to Pune. Once he was there, I asked my brother-in-law to arrange for an air ticket for him to Patna so that we could get him treated here. The ticket was arranged and he reached Patna around 2.30pm on Wednesday,” Arvind said.

Once in Patna, Ashwani was taken to a doctor at Boring Road who prescribed him some medicines after examinations.

“He was weeping all the time and said his final days had arrived. He was very anxious. We took him home after the doctor conducted some tests on him following which he was quiet. In the evening, he had dinner and went to a room on the top floor to sleep. But he looked really tense,” Arvind said.

As Arvind went for his morning walk early this morning, he got a call from his father.

“It was around 7am when my father called me saying Ashwani was not opening the door. I rushed back home and found the door locked. From the glass panes of the window, we could see him hanging. Somehow the door was broken. The police was immediately informed,” he said.

The police said the body of Ashwani has been sent for post-mortem. The reason for the suicide is being ascertained.

“It is difficult to say anything now. It seems to be a puzzling case. The police will talk to the family and his friends based in Mumbai too,” a police officer at the S.K. Puri police station said.