IPS officer’s suicide: Karnal MC employees decry Dalit oppression

Scores of employees, under the banner of the Municipal Employees’ Union, protested on Wednesday in the city, expressing resentment over the death of IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, alleging that it is a clear case of oppression towards the Dalit community.

After gathering outside the Karnal Municipal Corporation (MC) office, the employees raised slogans and marched to the Mini-Secretariat, where they submitted a memorandum of their demands to the Tehsildar. The protest was led by union state vice-president Veerbhan Bidlan, Karnal unit president Raj Kumar, and secretary Rajendra Kumar.

Bidlan termed the suicide an institutional murder and demanded immediate arrest of those responsible, calling for a prompt and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the IPS officer, and strict action against all those found guilty.

The union warned that the “government’s delay” in ensuring justice would only intensify public outrage.

If the demands of the bereaved family were not met soon, protesters said they would not hesitate to march to Delhi. They added that the details mentioned in the officer’s suicide note revealed shocking and distressing circumstances.

The note pointed towards a clear pattern of harassment, humiliation, and caste-based discrimination, they added, saying such discrimination was not an isolated incident but a deeply rooted social issue, which, according to them, had been systematically strengthened under the current ruling party. Union leaders warned that if the people involved in the case were not arrested soon, they would launch a state-wide work boycott.