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Another Haryana cop dead: ASI who was probing IPS officer Y Puran Kumar's suicide
Tuesday’s death plunges Haryana police into murkier waters marked by conflicting allegations that span corruption, casteism and harassment
A Haryana police assistant sub-inspector was found dead with a gunshot wound on Tuesday along with a purported suicide note accusing of corruption the late inspector general Y Puran Kumar, the same senior officer whose alleged suicide exactly a week earlier put the state police’s top brass under lens for casteism and bias.
Sandeep Lathar, a 41-year-old who hailed from the Jat community, accused Kumar, a Dalit, and his family of widespread graft in a four-page note and six-minute video, claiming he had “ample evidence” against the senior officer. HT could not independently verify the veracity of either the note or the video.
Lathar, who was originally from Julana in Jind, was part of the Rohtak CIA-2 team that intercepted and arrested Kumar’s associate on October 6 following a corruption complaint. IGP Kumar, 52, was found dead at his Chandigarh residence the next day.
Tuesday’s death plunges Haryana police into murkier waters marked by conflicting allegations that span corruption, casteism and harassment — IGP Puran Kumar had named eight senior officials in a note he left behind on October 7, including the state’s police chief Shatrujeet Kapur.
Kapur was “sent on leave” by the state government late on Monday. Kumar’s wife, senior Haryana bureaucrat Amneet P Kumar, has refused to give consent for an autopsy, demanding the arrest of Kapur and now-suspended Rohtak police superintendent Narenrdra Bijarniya.
Late in the evening, similar scenes played out at Lather’s uncle’s house in Rohtak’s Ladhot village, where his body has been kept, with his family refusing to hand it over for autopsy. Lathar’s cousin Sanjay Deswal said the family has kept the body at Ladhot village and will give permission for last rites only after an FIR is registered. “My brother had ended his life after levelling allegations of corruption against Y Puran Kumar and his family. An FIR of abetment to suicide should be registered, besides a probe of property of former IG and his family,” he said.
In the purported suicide note and video he recorded, Lathur termed the 2001-batch IPS officer “corrupt ” and alleged that Kumar died by suicide out of fear of arrest. He accused Kumar of “hijacking the system by exploiting casteism”.
“I am demanding an investigation by sacrificing my life. This corrupt family should not be spared,” he purportedly wrote in the Hindi language note.
Rohtak superintendent of police Surendra Singh Bhoria, speaking to reporters at the crime scene on the Ladhot-Dhamar road, described Lathar as a “hardworking and honest” officer. “His body has been found. A forensic team has been called and the investigation is underway,” he said.
Lathar was found dead in a room adjacent to farmlands owned by his uncle. A farm labourer identified by police as Jaildar discovered Lathar’s body after hearing a gunshot while working nearby. “I reached inside the room and spotted Sandeep [Lathar] lying near a charpoy and informed his family following which the police were informed,” he added.
A day before Kumar died, Lathar was part of the Rohtak CIA-2 team that intercepted and arrested the late IGP’s associate Sushil Kumar, an exemptee assistant sub-inspector (an ASI who has been exempted from certain duties) following a complaint by liquor contractor Praveen Bansal.
An FIR was registered at Urban Estate police station in Rohtak under the Prevention of Corruption Act, alleging that Sushil Kumar had taken ₹2.5 lakh from Bansal on behalf of Puran Kumar, who was the inspector general of police for Rohtak range until September 29. HT reached out to the chief minister’s officer but did not receive a response immediately.
Kumar was yet to assume charge at his new posting as IG at the Police Training Centre in Sunaria, Rohtak, at the time of his death.
In his six-minute purported video, Lathar praised DGP Kapur and former Rohtak SP Bijarniya, describing them as honest officers. He alleged that when Sushil Kumar was arrested along with driver Dharmender, they had collected a “monthly sum” from elsewhere and the money was kept in the dashboard.
“When we arrested Sushil, he told us that we can’t do anything to him and the officer (Puran Kumar) will get him freed,” Lathar alleged in the video. “When the CDR (call detail record) is checked, my allegations will be proved right.”
Lathar claimed Kumar had taken money to exclude names in a murder case registered at Sadar police station and alleged a deal worth ₹50 crore to remove the name of one Rao Inderjit, a Gurugram-based businessman. He also accused Kumar of creating an atmosphere where Sushil Kumar started demanding money from anyone who visited the IG’s office, and of targeting police officers on the basis of caste while favouring “corrupt persons from his community”.
He made additional allegations of policemen close to Kumar demanding money from people after finding mistakes in their files and sexually assaulting women police personnel for transfers.
HT reached out to Kumar’s family, but received no response to calls and messages.
Police said Lathar had not been questioned by the Chandigarh Police special investigation team, investigating Kumar’s death.
