Haryana IPS officer suicide: All angles being thoroughly probed, says Chandigarh Police

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (PTI) The Chandigarh Police has said all the angles are being thoroughly investigated by the Special Investigation Team in the alleged suicide of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar in a fair, impartial and transparent manner.

It also said a request was also made to the director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, for conducting the post-mortem by a board of doctors comprising ballistic, toxicology, forensic and fingerprint experts, in the presence of an executive magistrate with videography and photography.

The board was duly constituted by the PGIMER for a post-mortem examination. But the family members of the deceased have not come forward for the post-mortem proceedings, so it could not be conducted so far, said the police in a report submitted to the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission on Monday.

The Commission, while taking suo-motu cognisance of the alleged suicide by IPS officer Kumar, had sought a report from the Chandigarh Director General of Police in this regard.

The Commission expressed dissatisfaction over the reply of the Chandigarh Police and sought action against all those who were named by Kumar in his suicide note.

The Commission said the Chandigarh Police submitted a report on the action taken so far in the alleged suicide case of Kumar.

According to the report, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted and the investigation is currently in progress, said the Commission.

Punjab SC panel chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi directed the Chandigarh Police officials to take immediate action in the matter.

He pointed out that the report submitted by the police did not include a copy of the FIR, leaving it unclear whether the case has been registered against the officials mentioned in the suicide note.

The Commission was also not provided with written details regarding the SIT constituted to probe the case, said Garhi in a statement.

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 has also given accounts of the alleged harassment, including caste-based discrimination, by some other officers.

In its reply to the Commission, the Chandigarh police said that on October 7 at 1.49 pm, information was received through the police control room that there was an attempt to commit suicide at House No.116, Sector-11, Chandigarh.

"On this information, police reached the spot where Y. Puran Kumar, IPS, was found lying on a sofa with a gunshot wound on the head in the basement of the house.

A typed 'Final Note' dated October 7 was also recovered from the pocket of the deceased. Subsequently, Amneet P. Kumar, the wife of the late Y Puran Kumar, filed a complaint on October 8 with the police for registration of an FIR.

After obtaining a legal opinion, an FIR was registered at Police Station West Sector-11, Chandigarh on October 9, said the police.

"During initial proceedings, the CFSL team inspected the scene of the crime and collected exhibits/evidence from the spot and handed them over to the police party. Other articles i.e. mobile phones, fingerprints etc. were also taken into police possession from the spot.

That exhibits have also been deposited with CFSL, Sector-36, Chandigarh for examination," said the police.

Initially, the body was taken to GMSH-16, Chandigarh and later on the body was shifted to PGIMER, Chandigarh for post-mortem examination, as the family members of the deceased want to get the post-mortem done at PGIMER, Chandigarh, it said.

A SIT, headed by the Inspector General of Police, was constituted to conduct a prompt, impartial, thorough investigation of the case and to investigate all aspects of the case including evidence collection, witness examination, and take expert opinions, in a time-bound manner, it said.

There has been no breakthrough in the impasse over the autopsy of Kumar, seven days after he allegedly committed suicide.

A 31-member committee formed to seek "justice" for the deceased officer's family, on Sunday gave a 48-hour ultimatum to act against state police chief Shatrujeet Kapur and the then Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.

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 and the Chandigarh authorities have been making efforts to persuade Kumar's wife who is a senior IAS officer serving in Haryana. PTI CHS RT RT