Rohtak ASI’s FIR standoff over suicide note stalls post-mortem; all-night talks fail, villagers rally in Ladhaut

The deadlock over the post-mortem of Sandeep Kumar Lather, an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) of the Haryana Police—who died by suicide on Tuesday—continues as his family members refuse to hand over the body to the police until their demands are met.

Sandeep’s body is currently being kept at his maternal uncle’s house in Ladhaut village.

The family is demanding the registration of an FIR against those named in Sandeep’s suicide note, as well as supporters of the late senior IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who also committed suicide in Chandigarh over a week ago.

Sandeep was part of a team that had arrested Kumar’s subordinate, Sushil Kumar, in Rohtak in connection with a case involving extortion demands from a local liquor businessman.

“We will not hand over the body for a post-mortem until a case is registered against those mentioned in the suicide note. This has been communicated to the police administration, but so far, no action has been taken. Our brother sacrificed his life to expose corruption,” said Sanjay, Sandeep’s cousin.

Rohtak ASP Pratik Aggarwal, SDM Ashish Kumar, and other officials visited the family last night in an attempt to persuade them to agree to the post-mortem. However, the family remains steadfast in their demand. Police personnel have been deployed in the village, and people have gathered at Sandeep’s maternal uncle’s house in Ladhaut village in support of the family’s stance. Sandeep Lather, a middle-aged ASI, reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol in a room on the outskirts of Ladhaut village on Tuesday afternoon.

He was posted at the Cyber Cell of the Rohtak SP office. A four-page suicide note was recovered from the scene, in which Sandeep made serious allegations of corruption and caste-based harassment against the late IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar and his subordinate staff. Additionally, Sandeep recorded a video prior to his death, which is now under investigation by the police. In the 6.28-minute video, he praised DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and former Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, describing them as “honest officers".