A deputy commissioner of police with the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, Sanjay Banerjee, shot himself in a popular Thane restaurant in front of his wife and two young children on Saturday.

A deputy commissioner of police with the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, Sanjay Banerjee, shot himself in a popular Thane restaurant in front of his wife and two young children on Saturday.

The DNA newspaper said that Banerjee reportedly used his personal licensed 9mm pistol to shoot himself in the right temple at 4.10pm.

The family had been the only people in the Goa Portugesa restaurant in Thane.

"The family members were the only customers in the restaurant at the time as there is usually a lull before the evening crowd. I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud boom. I rushed out thinking something had fallen and saw the customer half sprawled in his chair with blood gushing from his head," said an employee of the eatery to the Indian Express.

Police are still trying to piece together the circumstances that led Banerjee to take such drastic action.

Some accounts indicate that Banerjee had an argument with his wife prior to taking his family out to lunch, but it is not clear if this was the cause of the suicide. However other media reports have said that the couple's elder son has denied this.

According to The Telegraph newspaper, Banerjee's name hit the headlines in 2010 when former Mumbai commissioner Julio Ribeiro wrote to state home minister RR Patil terming him one of four police officers allegedly given prime postings in Mumbai with help from politicians.

He had been a resident of the exclusive Hiranandani Estate in Thane.