A day after the under-suspension superintending engineer (SE) with the UHBVNL was found dead under mysterious circumstances, the family on Tuesday decided to cremate his body after the administration assured them that an ASP-led special investigation team (SIT) would probe his death.
The deceased’s younger daughter and son lit the funeral pyre during a late-evening ceremony. Karnal DC Anand Kumar Sharma and SP Narender Bijarniya were also present at the cremation ground.
The 58-year-old was found dead in his car just meters from his Karnal residence, after he allegedly consumed some poisonous substance on the day of his retirement on Monday.
The police also recovered a three-page suicide note, where he named several officials of the power corporation, including an IAS officer and several of the SEs, XENs and SDOs.
The family and members of the Dalit community gathered near the morgue and refused to perform the last rites after the post-mortem, demanding an FIR against those named in the note.
The police registered an FIR under charges of BNS and the SC/ST Act, but they did not name any of the accused initially.
In April, he was suspended as SE of the Sonepat circle after a video allegedly showing him making ‘casteist’ remarks against the Jat community went viral.
{{/usCountry}}In April, he was suspended as SE of the Sonepat circle after a video allegedly showing him making ‘casteist’ remarks against the Jat community went viral.
{{/usCountry}}In his final note, he alleged caste-based discrimination and harassment as the reasons behind his extreme step.
The deceased’s daughter also claimed that the video was not genuine and alleged that some people had conspired to create, edit and circulate the recording on social media.
A committee led by ADC Rahul Raiya including police officials held discussions with the family and assured them that the case would be investigated fairly.
Inspector Sunil Kumar, SHO, sector 32-33 police station said that the case was registered against 13 men, based on the suicide note and a complaint received from the family.
He said that as per the demand, an SIT was formed and the family decided to conduct the last rites.
“According to their demand for reinstatement in records, a separate official communication will be shared with the concerned department,” the inspector said.