Haryana IGP suicide: Rahul Gandhi to meet family on Tuesday

Chandigarh: Opposition leaders on Monday intensified their attack on the Haryana government over IPS officer Y Puran Kumar's alleged suicide, demanding swift action on his "final note" and the police complaint filed by his wife against the officers accused of harassing him.

With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announcing that he would meet the officer’s family on Tuesday, politics over the incident is set to heat up, even as there was no breakthrough in the impasse over Kumar's family not consenting to his autopsy and cremation on Monday -- seven days after the alleged suicide.

In an eight-page final note purportedly left behind by Kumar, he accused eight senior IPS officers, including Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and now-transferred Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, of "blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities."

The IPS officer's wife -- senior IAS officer Amneet P Kumar -- has demanded that Kapur and Bijarniya be named in the FIR for allegedly abetting her husband's suicide. The officer's family has refused to give consent for a postmortem and cremation until its demands are addressed.

The state government and the Chandigarh authorities, meanwhile, have been making efforts to persuade Amneet P Kumar, serving in Haryana.

Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, who met the family here on Monday, said Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has assured that action will be taken against those found guilty in the case, but at the same time, he has urged Kumar's family they let the postmortem be conducted.

"I spoke with the family. They requested that I speak to the chief minister. I met the CM later in the day, and he told me that he visited the family immediately after his return from Japan trip, in which Amneet P Kumar was part of the government delegation," Athawale said.

The opposition, meanwhile, has stepped up attacks on the government over the issue, with several political leaders from various parties meeting Kumar's family here and demanding action in the matter.

According to the Congress party, Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, would pay a condolence visit to the family of the officer on Tuesday evening.

"LoP Shri @RahulGandhi will be visiting Chandigarh tomorrow to extend his condolences to the family of the late Shri Y. Puran Kumar (IPS)," Congress posted on X.

Among the leaders from opposition parties who visited the Kumar's Sector 24 residence here were Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Congress MP from Rohtak Deepender Singh Hooda, INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala and Punjab Finance Minister and AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema.

Vikramarka said he came to Chandigarh to console the family members of Kumar, who hailed from the southern state. He described the alleged suicide as "extremely sad" and demanded that the government immediately act against the officers named in Kumar's "dying declaration" (final note).

"Y Puran Kumar gave up his life and in his dying declaration, he mentioned particularly about two officers, Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and the then Rohtak SP Narendra (Bijarniya), stating that they have humiliated him, insulted him, and they are the root cause for his suicide," he said.

He demanded that the government immediately act upon his "dying declaration" and take action against the officers responsible.

Congress leader from Haryana, Deepender Singh Hooda, called for a fair and independent investigation into Kumar's suicide and said it is the government's responsibility to restore public confidence in the system.

"This will only happen when justice is served," the Rohtak MP told reporters after meeting Kumar's wife here.

INLD chief Abhay Singh Chautala, after meeting Kumar's family, said he assured the entire family that until justice is served, he will not only stand with them but will also pressure the government to ensure a fair investigation and strict action against the "culprits".

Punjab Minister Harpal Cheema alleged that action was not being taken against the "accused" in the FIR as the Haryana government was trying to "save the culprits".

To ensure justice for the family of Kumar, the INLD also submitted a memorandum to Punjab Governor-cum-Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, urging him, as the Administrator of the UT, to take immediate steps for concrete action in this case.

Fifty-two-year-old Kumar, a 2001-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, allegedly shot himself dead on October 7.

After the registration of an FIR, Chandigarh police constituted a six-member Special Investigation Team for "prompt, impartial and thorough investigation" into the case.

The Chandigarh police on Monday asserted that it was investigating the case in a fair, impartial and transparent manner and said all the angles are being thoroughly investigated by the SIT.

It said a request was also made to the director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, for conducting a postmortem of the deceased through a board of doctors in the presence of an executive magistrate, ballistic expert, toxicology expert, forensic expert, and fingerprint expert with videography and photography.

However, the post-mortem has not been conducted so far as the family members are yet to give their assent, the police said in a report submitted to the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission.

The Punjab SC 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.

Meanwhile, a 31-member committee formed to seek "justice" for the deceased officer's family on Sunday gave a 48-hour ultimatum to act against Kapur and Bijarniya.