Mumbai, May 8: The chief executive of the Cricket Club of India (CCI), one of the oldest such institutions in the country, shot himself in the head this evening in an alleged suicide attempt linked to a complaint of obscene email to a woman member over two years ago.

Kamaljeet Rajpal allegedly attempted suicide at his residence in Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade that commands some of the highest real estate price tags in the country.

He was rushed to Bombay Hospital for surgery. His condition was described as “critical but stable”.

Rajpal, father of two teenagers, has been accused by a 31-year-old woman of sending her an email in March 2007 with a sexually explicit video clip featuring purported Hollywood stars. The complaint was filed over two years later on this April 8.

On Monday, a sessions court is scheduled to decide whether to grant anticipatory bail to Rajpal. The plea was heard today.

In her statement to the cyber cell of Mumbai police, the woman said she was “shocked and scared at the content and didn’t know how to react”.

Explaining why she didn’t file a complaint earlier, the woman told the police that she “was afraid and didn’t want to damage the reputation of the club”. Besides, she said, “only recently” did she come to know that sending such mails was an offence.

If Rajpal is proven guilty, the charge carries punishment of up to five years in jail and Rs 1 lakh fine for a first-time offence.

Sources said she had sent a legal notice to the club management on April 1 after she was asked to appear before the CCI disciplinary committee to reply to complaints received against her.

Rajpal’s friends at the club said he was a victim of intra-club rivalry. “He had a lot of detractors because he was given the CEO’s job despite not being from a hotel management background. He was a businessman,” said a source close to Rajpal.

Others at the club said while they sympathised with the alleged victim, they found the timing of the complaint suspect – the club is due for general body elections in the latter half of this year. “She was pulled up by the club a few months back for refusing to clear dues at the beauty salon,” said a club member.

A section of CCI members has come out in support of the woman, too.

“The victim has said in her police complaint that Rajpal and she were close friends. But she said they had a falling out after the porn-email was sent,” according to Rakesh Maria, the joint police commissioner (crime), Rakesh Maria.

“On April 26, the crime branch raided Rajpal’s residence and office. The cyber cell found an approximately three-minute obscene video. We registered a case of outraging the modesty of a woman against Rajpal,” Maria added.