A woman Sub-Inspector committed suicide by consuming poisonous cow dung powder in her house in Annur, some 35 km from here.

The 45-year old Hemalatha returned home around 7 p.m. yesterday, after completing an anti-encroachment operation. Sometime later she consumed cow dung powder and swooned, police said.

Noticing this, her 17-year old son, raised an alarm. Neighbours rushed in and took her to a private hospital. As Hemalatha was being shifted to another private hospital after first aid, she died on the way in the wee hours of the morning.

Investigations are on to ascertain the reason behind this extreme step.