Row over Haryana IPS officer’s death deepens as wife booked for ASI’s suicide
FIR also names her brother and Punjab MLA Amit Rattan after ASI Sandeep Lathar’s note and video accused the late IPS officer of corruption; CM Saini assures family of fair probe
Police in Haryana’s Rohtak district on Wednesday (October 15) booked deceased IPS officer Y Puran Kumar’s wife and senior IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, her brother and Punjab legislator Amit Rattan, and two others for abetment of the suicide of ASI Sandeep Lathar.
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The ASI was found dead with a gunshot wound, along with a purported final note that accused the late IPS officer of corruption, officers said.
The development came on a day Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini met the family members of 41-year-old Lathar and assured them of “appropriate action”.
IPS officer accused of graft
In his suicide note and a video message, ASI Lathar accused Kumar of being a corrupt officer and alleged that he died by suicide because he feared an expose of his corrupt activities. Lathar also made serious allegations against Kumar's wife, Amneet Kumar, an IAS officer.
The family of the Rohtak police officer had demanded that an FIR be registered based on the officer's suicide note and said they would not consent to the postmortem unless a case was filed.
Chief Minister Saini’s OSD Virender Singh Badhkhalsa informed the deceased ASI’s family members during the meeting about the FIR being registered against four persons under sections 108 (abetment to suicide) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of BNS, and urged them to give consent for the autopsy.
Wife seeks impartial probe
Meanwhile, the cremation of Puran Kumar took place in Chandigarh on Wednesday following his autopsy at the PGIMER, with his wife expressing hope for an impartial probe into the matter so that “justice is served at the earliest”.
Also read | Haryana IPS officer death: Family gives consent for autopsy, say police
The postmortem examination, which began at 11.45 am and concluded at 1.22 pm, was carried out by a medical board, comprising four experts — a convener, two doctors from the department of forensic medicine, and a specialist from histopathology.
Earlier in a statement, Amneet said that she had given consent for the autopsy after an assurance from Chandigarh police that a fair probe would be conducted and a commitment from the Haryana government that action would be taken against the “erring officers”.