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President Murmu cancels visit to IAF station in Haryana’s Ambala on October 18
Both PM and President’s visits cancelled amid stalemate over autopsy of Haryana-cadre IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, 52, and the Nayab Saini government’s alleged inaction over the demands of the family.
President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday cancelled her visit to the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Ambala on October 18.
In a statement, a defence spokesperson said that the visit has been put off to a future date and the same will be informed accordingly.
However, no reason has been attributed by the authorities so far.
The spokesperson had earlier said that the President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, was scheduled to arrive at the IAF station, wherein Rafale sorties and other events were scheduled to take place.
The Ambala administration had been preparing for Murmu’s first visit to one of the oldest IAF stations, which is home to the France-made ultra-modern fighter Rafale and Indian Army’s Kharga Corps under the Western Command.
The cancellation of her visit comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his visit to Sonepat on October 17 to mark the first anniversary of the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in Haryana.
Both high-profile visits have been cancelled amid the ongoing stalemate over the autopsy of Haryana-cadre IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, 52, and the Saini government’s alleged inaction over the demands of the family.
Kumar, a 2001-batch Indian Police Service officer known for his interventions in matters related to the rights of officers and seniority and other issues, had allegedly shot himself dead at his private residence in Sector 11, Chandigarh, on October 7. In a final note, Kumar, who was posted as inspector general, Police Training Centre (PTC) at Sunaria in Rohtak, accused Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and then Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya of “blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities”.
The Haryana government sent Kapur on leave on Tuesday.
The deceased IPS officer’s wife, senior IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, has accused Kapur and Bijarniya of abetment to suicide. The officer’s family, which is also seeking their arrest, has refused to give consent for a post-mortem and cremation until its demands are addressed.
On Tuesday, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had a 45-minute meeting with Kumar’s family and said “A wrong message is being sent out to Dalits... that no matter how successful you are, if you are Dalit, you can be oppressed and crushed.”
“Kumar’s death is not about the respect of one family but of all Dalits,” Gandhi told reporters, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Saini to act immediately in the case.
Kumar’s wife is commissioner and secretary of the department of foreign cooperation, Haryana. She was in Japan as part of a delegation led by the chief minister when Kumar was found dead at the house. Gandhi also made a reference to a “false case being lodged”, alluding apparently to a liquor contractor in Rohtak filing a bribery case against a police head constable. The contractor alleged that the head constable, Sushil Kumar, sought a bribe of ₹2.5 lakh in Puran Kumar’s name when he was posted in Rohtak. Sushil Kumar was arrested recently.
