Late Dalit IPS Officer’s Wife and MLA Brother Booked in ASI Suicide Case
Chandigarh: In a fresh twist to the controversy surrounding Dalit IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar’s death, Haryana police have registered a case against the deceased officer’s wife, IAS officer Amneet P. Kumar, her brother and Punjab MLA Amit Rattan and two others on the charges of abetment to suicide and criminal conspiracy in connection with ASI Sandeep Lathar’s suicide case.
Lathar, ASI posted in Haryana’s Rohtak, was on Tuesday (October 14) found dead with a gunshot wound along with a purported suicide note that accused the late IPS officer and his family of corruption.
Lathar further claimed that the late IPS officer Puran Kumar was facing mounting pressure after his corrupt practices came to light.
Lathar was referring to the arrest of Puran Kumar’s gunman Sushil Kumar, who was apprehended for allegedly taking bribe from a Rohtak-based businessman. Sushil Kumar confessed to have taken money on Puran Kumar’s behalf.
Further, Lathar narrated in his purported video that Puran Kumar died by suicide due to fear of an impending inquiry, not by any form of social prejudice or caste discrimination as he claimed in his suicide note.
In the video, Lathar was also heard saying that “someone has to sacrifice his life to awaken the nation,” while praising state DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and former Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya as honest officers.
On the contrary, according to late Puran Kumar’s wife, the conspiracy by Kapur and Bijarniya were the trigger point behind her husband’s death by suicide and she continues to demand their arrest.
Puran Kumar was cremated on Wednesday (October 15) after a week-long tug of war between his family and police authorities over denial of Puran Kumar’s post mortem due to their pending demands.
The family finally relented after Haryana government sent state DGP Kapur on long leave while also transferring Rohtak SP Bijarniya days earlier on October 9.
ASI suicide case
Somewhat similar developments occurred in the ASI suicide case as well. The family of the ASI withheld post mortem permission of the deceased officer unless police registered the case against all those persons named in his suicide note.
The family relented and agreed for autopsy after Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini met the family members of 41-year-old Lathar on Wednesday (October 15) afternoon and assured them of “appropriate action”.
Leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders also visited Lathar’s house and expressed condolences.
Later in the evening, Sanjay Deswal, Lathar’s cousin, told media that the state government has accepted their demands, including registration of an FIR, government job to Lathar’s wife as per her qualification and fair probe in a time-bound manner.
After this, Lathar’s body has been sent to Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak, and the post-mortem examination will be conducted on Thursday (October 16) morning followed by cremation.
Family silent, AAP minister says conspiracy
Meanwhile, there has been no statement from Amneet Kumar or her MLA brother so far. Only thing Amneet Kumar said yesterday was that she had full faith in judicial process and police inquiry and she wants impartial probe.
Commenting on the death of ASI Lathar, Punjab finance minister and AAP leader Harpal Cheema said that “when his enemy has died, why did he need to die by suicide?”
While addressing media outside governor’s house in Chandigarh, Cheema alleged that he may have been murdered by some agencies or individuals. The police personnel can conspire or commit any treasonous act to save their other officers, to save a DGP, to save an SP, and to save the BJP government, Cheema said.
He added that there should be an independent investigation. A high-ranking agency should investigate this, and “I believe that the investigation should be supervised by a judge of the country’s Supreme Court.”
If you know someone – a friend or a family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. Icall, a counselling service run by TISS, has maintained a crowdsourced list of therapists across the country. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.
