FIR registered in Rohtak ASI 'suicide' case, Haryana CM visits bereaved family

Chandigarh, Oct 15 (PTI) The Haryana Police has registered an FIR in connection with the "suicide" of Assistant Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar in Rohtak, an officer said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini visited the family of the ASI in Ladhot village and offered his condolences. He assured the bereaved family that action would be taken in the matter.

ASI Kumar, who was posted in the cyber cell in Rohtak, allegedly shot himself dead on Tuesday, leaving behind a 'final note' that levelled corruption allegations against the late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who also served in the same district.

Puran Kumar, 52, who had recently been posted as Inspector General, Police Training Centre in Rohtak's Sunaria, had shot himself dead in his Chandigarh residence on October 7. His last rites were held in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

In the ASI's death, an FIR was registered on the complaint of his family after the cop left a 'final note' and recorded a video before allegedly committing suicide, the officer said over the phone.

Kumar's body was recovered from a relative's makeshift room in a field along the Ladhot-Dhamar road in Rohtak on Tuesday. His family collected the body and took it to a relative's house in the same village.

On Wednesday, officials were engaged in persuading the family to allow the body's autopsy, at length, persuading them, after which the body was taken to PGIMS in Rohtak late evening.

A board of doctors will conduct a post-mortem on Thursday.

Saini was accompanied by ministers Mahipal Dhanda and Krishan Lal Panwar, and BJP leader Manish Grover, during his visit to Ladhot village.

A relative of Kumar said the family requested the chief minister for a thorough probe into the alleged 'suicide' as the policeman had levelled serious allegations in the video and the note he left behind.

In the six-minute video and the suicide note, which the ASI termed his "final note", he levelled corruption allegations against Puran Kumar. The policeman said the IPS officer killed himself "to avoid family humiliation." Apart from Saini, political leaders from other parties, including Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala, visited Ladhot village to offer their condolences to the ASI's family.

"The news of the demise of Haryana Police ASI Sandeep is very tragic. Today, upon reaching Ladhot, I paid tribute to the departed soul and met with the family members to console them," Hooda later said in a post on X.

Hooda told reporters that both "suicides" should be thoroughly investigated under the watch of a sitting judge.

Chautala demanded a CBI investigation "under the supervision of a sitting high court judge to ensure a fair investigation of the case." The ASI's death came hours after the Haryana government sent state DGP Shatrujeet Kapur on leave late on Monday night, and assigned 1992-batch IPS officer O P Singh the additional charge of Haryana DGP.

The government also transferred Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.

Kapur and Bijarnia were among the eight officers named by Puran Kumar in his final note, which pointed to "blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities." According to police sources, ASI Sandeep Kumar had played a role in the arrest of head constable Sushil Kumar, who is alleged to be an aide of Puran Kumar.

Rohtak Superintendent of Police SS Bhoria termed ASI Kumar a "very hardworking and honest person in our department." The ASI in the video purportedly said that even Bhagat Singh made sacrifices and walked a difficult path, after which the country awakened.

"And today, this country will awaken when we sacrifice ourselves on the path of truth," he says. The policeman also claimed that Bijarniya is an "honest officer" who confronted Puran Kumar.

The deceased IG's name had come up in a bribery scandal recently.

The case pertained to a bribery complaint filed by a liquor contractor against head constable Sushil Kumar. The contractor alleged that Sushil Kumar had sought Rs 2.5 lakh in the name of Puran Kumar when he was posted in Rohtak.

Kumar, a 52-year-old 2001 batch officer, was known for his interventions in matters related to the rights of officers, seniority and other issues.

The Chandigarh Police has constituted a six-member special investigation team to probe the Puran Kumar case. PTI SUN VN VN