IPS officer suicide: Stalemate over autopsy continues, 48-hour ultimatum to remove Haryana DGP Shatrujeet

The stalemate over the autopsy of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar continued on Sunday, six days after he allegedly committed suicide, even as a 31-member committee formed to seek “justice” for the deceased officer’s family gave a 48-hour ultimatum to remove state police chief Shatrujeet Kapur from his post.

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The officer’s family has refused to give its consent for a post-mortem examination and cremation of the body until its demands are addressed, though the Haryana government is making efforts to persuade Kumar’s wife—senior IAS officer Amneet P Kumar serving in Haryana—to agree.

In a related development, Chandigarh Police, which is conducting investigations into the alleged suicide case, on Sunday sent a request letter to Amneet P Kumar, urging her “to come forward for identification of the body for the conduct of the PME (post mortem) at the earliest, which is essential for a speedy investigation”.

The Chandigarh Police have also asked the Haryana Government to provide documents required for the investigation of the case.

Meanwhile, Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh on Sunday met Kumar’s family here to express his condolences.

Fifty-two-year-old Kumar, a 2001-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, allegedly shot himself dead at his Sector 11, Chandigarh, residence on October 7.

In an eight-page “final note” purportedly left behind by Kumar, he named eight senior IPS officers, including Haryana DGP Kapur and former Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya, for allegedly harassing and maligning his image.

He also gave accounts of alleged harassment, including caste-based discrimination, by some other officers in the note.

Birjaniya was transferred as the Rohtak SP on Saturday.

Haryana Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi on Sunday expressed hope that the issue would be resolved soon.

“His family has been assured that the entire Cabinet stands by it and will not allow any injustice. We have transferred the (Rohtak) SP at the instance of the family. He (the SP) has not even been allotted any station (posting) yet. Discussion with the family is under way,” Bedi told reporters here after a meeting of the Haryana cabinet.

Bedi said two Cabinet ministers, including himself, along with Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, and Chief Principal Secretary to the chief minister, Rajesh Khullar, met the family members on Sunday.

“The government is engaged in resolving all of their (Kumar’s family) issues. A probe into the circumstances that led to this incident is underway,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 31-member committee held a mahapanchayat at the Guru Ravidas Bhavan in Sector 20 here on Sunday and gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the Chandigarh administration and the Haryana government to remove Kapur.

The Haryana DGP is one of the police officers against whom the IPS officer’s wife is seeking action for allegedly abetting his suicide.

“The Haryana DGP and the former Rohtak SP should be arrested in the matter. The Haryana government should remove the state DGP from his post. We have given 48 hours to them after which we will decide the next course of action,” a spokesperson of the committee told reporters here.

The mahapanchayat witnessed unruly scenes after former Haryana MP Raj Kumar Saini, who had floated his own outfit a few years ago, allegedly made a controversial remark, which triggered an angry reaction from the gathering. Order was restored after organisers appealed to maintain calm.

A message was read on behalf of the IPS officer’s family, appealing for support in their fight for justice.

A special investigation team formed by Chandigarh Police to investigate the case has been in Rohtak since Saturday for further inquiry.

“Letters have been sent to the Haryana government to provide documents required for the investigation of the case,” a Chandigarh Police officer said.

Kumar, who was last posted as Inspector General at the Police Training Centre in Rohtak’s Sunaria, had allegedly faced harassment in connection with a bribery case involving a local head constable.

The Rohtak police had registered a case based on a complaint by a local liquor contractor that the constable had demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh in Kumar’s name. The constable was arrested recently and is in judicial custody.

Amneet P Kumar, in a letter to Chandigarh Senior Superintendent of Police Kanwardeep Kaur, demanded that Kapur and Bijarniya be named in the FIR.

“As per my complaint, the names of the accused (1) Shatrujeet Kapur and (2) Narendra Bijarniya have not been entered in the FIR, which was the trigger point for his (Puran Kumar’s) suicide,” Amneet said in her plea.

In her complaint to Chandigarh Police on Wednesday, she had sought an FIR against the duo under Section 108 (abetment to suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant provisions of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, demanding their immediate arrest.

Meanwhile, political leaders across party lines visited Kumar’s residence to condole the death and also demanded that justice be delivered to the family.

Prominent among the leaders were JJP’s Ajay Chautala, Dushyant Chautala, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Punjab Cabinet minister Aman Arora and BJP MP Naveen Jindal.

The Aam Aadmi Party took out candle marches at several places in Punjab, including Ludhiana, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Patiala, and Chandigarh, to seek justice for the Kumar family.