Puran Kumar Suicide: Rahul Gandhi Meets Kin, Will Haryana Govt Arrest Top Cops?
Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapoor has been sent on leave but the pressure continues to mount on the BJP government.
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(Trigger warning: The story has references to suicide)
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, met the family of IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who had died by suicide on 7 October, alleging caste discrimination at the hands of top Haryana police officials.
Gandhi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini to take strict action against the officials who allegedly harassed Puran Kumar.
"There has been a tragedy. The Haryana CM had given a commitment that there would be a free and fair inquiry and action would be taken. It has been three days and that commitment has not been fulfilled," Gandhi said, adding that the deceased officer's family is "under a lot of pressure".
Gandhi was accompanied by former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja.
A day before Gandhi's visit, the Haryana government sent on leave DGP Shatrujeet Kapoor, one of the main police officials named in Puran Kumar's suicide note. It had earlier transferred Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarnia, whom Puran Kumar had accused of harassment.
In a related development, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Rohtak Police, Sandeep Kumar, allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday and reportedly levelled allegations of graft against Puran Kumar in a three-page note and a video.
Haryana Govt in Damage Control Mode
Sending Kapoor on leave and transferring Bijarniya without giving him a new posting, seems to be the Haryana government's effort at damage control.
However, uncertainty continues regarding Puran Kumar's body, which is still in the mortuary. His family has refused to allow the postmortem until the two key accused - Kapoor and Bijarniya - are arrested.
As an effort to break the deadlock, Chandigarh Police DGP Sagar Preet Hooda visited the residence of Amneet Kumar, wife of Puran Kumar. Hooda informed the media that Puran Kumar’s autopsy will only be conducted after the family's consent. According to sources, Hooda apologised to the family of the late officer for shifting his body to Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) from Sector-16 hospital in Chandigarh for conducting an autopsy "without their consent".
Amit Rattan, AAP MLA from Punjab and brother-in-law of the deceased officer, had accused Chandigarh Police of shifting Puran Kumar’s body from Sector-16 govt hospital to PGIMER without the family's consent.
Rattan said, ”They shifted the body without asking us. Several days have passed since a DGP-level officer died, but we have not received justice yet".
On 10 October, a 31-member IPS Y Puran Nyaye Sangharsh Committee was formed seeking action against the police officials named in Kumar's suicide note. Two days later, a Mahapanchayat was held at Guru Ravidas Gurdwara in Chandigarh, demanding justice for the deceased police officer.
Who Was IPS Officer Y Puran Kumar?
Born on 19 May, 1973 in a Dalit family in Andhra Pradesh, Y. Puran Kumar was an engineering graduate and a 2001-batch police officer. He is married to Amneet Kumar, an IAS officer of the same batch. Before his transfer on 29 September to Police Training College in Rohtak, Puran Kumar was posted as Inspector General, Rohtak Range.
Puran Kumar was a decorated police officer and was a recipient of a police medal for meritorious services in 2017. In October first week, Rohtak Police had booked Y Puran Kumar’s associate Sushil Kumar for allegedly seeking bribe from a liquor baron.
On 7 October, Puran Kumar died by suicide at his Chandigarh residence in Sector-11 after allegedly shooting himself with his bodyguard's service revolver.
He penned an eight-page long suicide note titled 'Final Note' in which he accused eight senior police officers of caste discrimination and mental harrassment.
The Suicide Note
In his suicide note, Kumar accused Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur of harassing him and instigating Narendra Bijarniya to "malign his name and reputation".
He had written in his final note that he could not handle “caste-based discrimination, public humiliation, targeted mental harassment and atrocities any longer and hence took the final decision to end it all.”
Kumar alleged that he had been facing harassment since August 2020 and had given several representations asking for equity of treatment on several issues.
For instance, he accused then-DGP Manoj Yadava of targeting him for visiting a temple in an Ambala police station in 2020.
Kumar alleged that Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajeev Arora did not sanction his earned leave on time, because of which he could not visit his father for the last time before his death.
"This causes me continued immense pain and mental harassment and is an irreparable loss till date," he stated in his letter.
Kumar alleged that he had reported this incident to the Chief Secretary but no action was taken.
He also wrote that, ”All my complaints and representations are a matter of record and are documentary proof and evidence of the continued and targeted mental harassment, atrocities I had to go through for years together.”
The FIR registered on a complaint filed by wife Amneet Kumar, alleges that he was being forcibly implicated in a criminal case by Haryana Police on the instructions of Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur. The complaint alleges that the case against Sushil, a member of Puran Kumar's staff, was part of a "well-planned conspiracy".
"My husband was being implicated by fabricating the evidence against him, which pushed him towards suicide," Amneed Kumar alleges.
Political Row
Chandigarh Police has already constituted a 6-member SIT headed by IG Pushpendra Kumar to probe the case in a time-bound manner.
Haryana CM Nayab Saini has assured the late police officer's family that fair action will be taken in the case. Saini gave this assurance after a meeting with BJP functionaries in Panchkula, where they are also said to have observed two-minutes silence to honour Puran Kumar.
Several Opposition politicians have visited Amneet Kumar's residence over the past few days.
Former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, who met the family, blamed "BJP's 'Manuvadi' thinking" for Puran Kumar's suicide.
Channi said,”Puran Kumar’s family is demanding the arrest of the guilty officer but no one is listening to them. Puran was an upright officer who had won a presidential award for his service. He was fighting for the rights of Dalits.”
Charanjit Singh Channi claimed that Puran Kumar is a martyr who was fighting for the rights of Dalits. Channi went on to say that Puran Kumar refused to target farmers
Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala asked, "If a senior police official does not get justice then who will get the justice? Surjewala added that the suicide of a senior police officer due to caste discrimination explains the state of affairs in Haryana and India".
Several Ambedkarite organisations such as Ambedkar Students Forum (ASF) and Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) have been holding protests in Panjab University, Chandigarh, against the alleged discrimination towards Puran Kumar and inaction by the Haryana government in the case.