Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur (sitting)
CHANDIGARH: In a late-night development, the Haryana government has sent Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur on leave amid the controversy surrounding the death of senior IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who had named Kapur in his suicide note. The decision has come just a day before the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was to visit the victim officer’s family.The decision comes following a tense standoff, with the family of the deceased officer refusing to allow the autopsy or cremation of the body until Kapur was removed from his post. Rajiv Jaitly, media adviser to CM Haryana confirmed the development over phone. However, the official order was not released till the filing of this report.Y. Puran Kumar, a senior Haryana cadre 2001 cadre IPS officer, had committed suicide on October 7 leaving behind a detailed eight page suicide note in which he had name DGP Kapur triggering widespread outrage and demands for action.The state government on Saturday transferred another IPS officer, Narendra Bijrania, who was also accused by the deceased cop for harassing him along with Kapur, from the post of SP Rohtak. In his “final note”, Kumar accused several senior officers, including Kapur and Bijarniya, of harassment and caste-based discrimination, which he claimed contributed to his distress. A total of 16 officers including IAS and IPS were named by Kumar before taking the extreme step.The dead body of the deceased cop is lying in mortuary, as the deceased’s wife P Amneet Kumar, who is also a 2001 batch IAS officer, has been demanding action against Kapur. The Haryana IAS officers association had also appealed to the Chandigarh administration and the Haryana government to take appropriate action on Amneet’s complaint filed with the Chandigarh Police on Wednesday and her representation given to the Haryana CM. In her complaint, Amneet alleged that her husband had endured “years of systematic humiliation, harassment, and persecution” at the hands of senior officials, particularly DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur.On Sunday, a ‘Mahapanchayat’ (congregation) was also organized in Chandigarh by 31-Member Committee fighting for justice to Puran Kumar’s family in which a 48-hour ultimatum has been given to the Chandigarh Administration and the Haryana government. The deadline was to end on Tuesday.The primary demand of the committee was immediate removal of Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur from his post within 48 hours.In a rare gesture, the Haryana governor Aseem Kumar Ghosh had also visited the deceased officer’s family on Sunday to offer condolences.On October 9, the Chandigarh police had registered an FIR against “all those named in the final note” on charges of abetment to suicide and sections of SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. The original FIR had invoked section 3(1)(r) of the Act, which provides for a jail term of a minimum six months, extendable to five years, and a fine. Apart from this, the police had also charged the accused under section 108 of BNS for abetting suicide, which provides for a maximum sentence of 10 years. In the FIR’s column, which provides details of accused/suspect, the FIR had referred all those mentioned in deceased officer’s suicide note including around 16 senior IPS/IAS officers with specific allegations against Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and the then Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarnia. However, on October 12, the Chandigarh police amended the FIR to include Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which provides a punishment of life imprisonment and a fine if the offence is found to be motivated by the victim’s caste.
