Haryana IPS officer 'suicide': Punjab Congress seeks justice for cop's family

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (PTI) The Punjab Congress on Sunday slammed the BJP government in Haryana over the alleged suicide of IPS officer Y Puran Kumar and demanded that justice be delivered to his family.

Addressing the media here, Punjab Pradesh Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said if an IPS officer like Y Puran Kumar was not safe, no one else is.

Warring said the Congress will hold a candle march at the district headquarters in Punjab on Monday to seek justice for Kumar's family.

Puran Kumar, 52, a 2001-batch IPS officer, allegedly shot himself dead at his Chandigarh Sector 11 residence on Tuesday and left behind a 'final note'.

Warring also accused the BJP government at the Centre of indulging in polarisation and dividing people based on religion and caste.

Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi demanded action against the officers who were named by the deceased officer in his final note for mentally harassing him.

If there is a "suicide note" from the deceased person, an FIR must be lodged, said Channi, noting that in Kumar's case, the officials named in the note have not been mentioned in the FIR registered by the Chandigarh police.

Six days have passed since Kumar died, and no action has been taken against all those who were named by Kumar in his "final note", said Channi.

Channi alleged that Haryana BJP leaders had been visiting Kumar's residence every day and pressuring the family not to seek justice.

The Congress MP said Kumar's wife, Amneet P Kumar, who hails from Punjab, is an IAS officer serving in Haryana.

Despite being an IAS officer, she is not getting justice as she belongs to a Dalit family, Channi alleged.

The former Punjab CM also raised the issue of the Chief Justice of India, saying an attempt was made to hurl a shoe at him.

He also referred to an incident in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli, saying a Dalit man was allegedly lynched after being mistaken for a thief.

Channi said there have been several incidents in Punjab where statues of Dr B R Ambedkar have been vandalised.

Demanding urgent action over the IPS officer's death, Channi said the Congress stands with the deceased's family.

The Haryana government had on Saturday shunted Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya, one of the officers against whom Puran Kumar's wife sought action for allegedly abetting his suicide.

In her complaint to the Chandigarh police on Wednesday, Amneet P Kumar sought an FIR against Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and Bijarniya under Section 108 of the BNS (abetment to suicide) and relevant provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, demanding their immediate arrest.

In the 'final note' purportedly left by Kumar, he named eight senior IPS officers, accusing Haryana DGP Kapur and the erstwhile Rohtak SP Bijarniya of harassing and maligning him.

In his eight-page 'final note', the deceased officer has also given accounts of alleged harassment, including caste-based discrimination, by some other officers.

On Saturday, Haryana ministers Krishan Lal Panwar, Krishan Kumar Bedi, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, and Principal Secretary Rajesh Khullar, besides other senior officers of the Haryana government, met Kumar's family, seemingly an attempt to persuade them to agree to a postmortem examination and cremation of the deceased officer. PTI CHS ARB MPL MPL