CHANDIGARH, Oct 14:
A Haryana Assistant Sub-Inspector in Rohtak shot himself dead on Tuesday and purportedly levelled corruption allegations against the late Inspector General Y Puran Kumar, adding a murky twist to the suspected suicide of the senior Dalit officer who served in the same district.
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ASI Sandeep Kumar’s alleged suicide comes in the backdrop of the escalating row over Puran Kumar’s death, which has led to a shakeup of the police brass and also become a huge political issue.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the senior officer’s family and called for the respect of all Dalits. He asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the State Government to take immediate action and arrest the officials responsible.
The second suicide of a Haryana cop has muddied the waters even more, the questions becoming louder, the mystery deeper.
Sandeep Kumar’s shock death came hours after the State Government late Monday night sent state DGP Shatrujeet Kapur on leave. Before that, the Government transferred Narendra Bijarniya, former Rohtak superintendent of police. The two were among the eight officials named by Puran Kumar in a note he left behind.
O P Singh, a 1992-batch IPS officer of DGP rank, has been assigned “additional charge of DGP Haryana during the leave period of Shatrujeet Kapur”, according to an official order.
Sandeep Kumar, who was posted in the cyber cell and whose body was recovered from his Rohtak home, left behind a six-minute purported video and a three-page suicide note naming Puran Kumar. The veracity of the video and the statement could not be immediately verified.
Police sources said the ASI played a role in the arrest of head constable Sushil Kumar, an aide of Puran Kumar who was found with a gunshot wound in his Chandigarh home on October 7.
“Sandeep shot himself,” said a senior police official from Rohtak.
“ASI Sandeep was a very hardworking and an honest person in our department. We received information that a body has been found after which we reached here,” Rohtak Superintendent of Police S S Bhoria told reporters at the incident site.
Asked about the video and the note, he said, “To say anything at this stage is difficult… the forensic team is investigating.”
Sandeep Kumar levelled serious allegations against Puran Kumar in the purported video, saying 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 path of truth,” he is heard as saying while claiming that “honest officer” Bijarniya had confronted Puran Kumar.
Puran Kumar’s name had cropped up in a bribery scandal recently.
A liquor contractor in Rohtak filed a bribery case against head constable Sushil Kumar. He alleged Sushil Kumar sought a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh in Puran Kumar’s name (when he was posted there). (PTI)
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