Haryana’s senior Dalit IPS officer, ADGP Y Puran Kumar.
Credit: X/ @INCKarnataka
Chandigarh: Police have added charges to the FIR registered in the alleged suicide case of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar following a plea by his wife to add the "relevant provisions" of the SC/ST Act.
Among other things, senior IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, who is Puran Kumar's wife, wrote to police earlier that the "diluted sections of the SC/ST Act in the FIR should be amended", and that Section 3 (2) (v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was the "appropriate section applicable" in the case.
When contacted over the phone, Chandigarh IG Pushpendra Kumar, who is heading a six-member Special Investigation Team in the 'suicide' case, on Sunday confirmed that Section 3 (2) (v) of the Act has been invoked in the FIR.
Puran Kumar's family has yet to give consent for the autopsy until their demands are met.
The Haryana government had on Saturday shunted out Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya, one of the cops against whom IPS officer Y Puran Kumar's wife was seeking action for allegedly abetting his suicide.
In a brief official order issued on Saturday, IPS officer Surinder Singh Bhoria was appointed as the new Rohtak SP, and he assumed the charge of his new posting. It said the posting order of Bijarniya will be issued separately.
Amneet demanded in the letter to SSP Kanwardeep Kaur to name the accused in the FIR, and specifically mentioned Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya.
The Chandigarh Police's initial FIR, which was based on a 'final note' by the deceased police officer, had charges under Section 108 rw 3(5) (abetment of suicide) and 3 (1) (r) POA (Prevention of Atrocities) SC/ST Act.
Amneet's complaint on Wednesday demanded Kapur and Bijarniya's immediate arrest.
The SC/ST section refers to a case when a person who is not a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe intentionally insults or intimidates with the intent to humiliate a member of a SC/ST in any place within public view.
The newly added Section 3 (2) (v) of the Act refers to any offence under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), punishable with imprisonment for a term of ten years or more, against an SC/ST person shall be punishable with imprisonment for life and with fine.
On Saturday, Haryana ministers Krishan Lal Panwar, Krishan Kumar Bedi, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, and principal secretary to the CM Rajesh Khullar met Puran Kumar's family, seemingly an attempt to persuade them to agree to a post-mortem examination and cremation of the deceased officer.
In his first remarks in the case that involves allegations of caste-based discrimination against a senior IPS officer, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Saturday assured that the guilty will face action irrespective of their position and asked the Opposition not to politicise the matter.
As the controversy deepened, several officials and ministers from Haryana and politicians from various states met Kumar's wife, IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, on Saturday.
A 31-member committee-- Shaheed Y Puran Singh Nyaya Sangharsh Morcha-- formed to ensure that the family's demands and concerns are addressed by authorities, has announced a "mahapanchayat" in Chandigarh on Sunday.
In a 'final note' purportedly left behind by Y Puran Kumar (52), a 2001-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, after he allegedly shot himself dead at his residence on Tuesday, the deceased officer named eight senior IPS officers, naming Haryana DGP Kapur and the then Rohtak SP Bijarniya for allegedly harassing and maligning him.
The deceased officer has also given accounts of alleged harassment, including caste-based discrimination, by some other officers.
Known for his interventions in matters related to the rights of officers and seniority, Puran Kumar was recently posted as the Inspector General of the Police Training Centre (PTC) in Rohtak's Sunaria.
Amneet alleged that her husband's death was the result of "systematic persecution" by high-ranking officers. A "will" and a "final note" were among the articles found at the scene and seized on Tuesday.
Chandigarh Police on Friday constituted a six-member SIT headed by IG Pushpendra Kumar for a "prompt, impartial and thorough investigation" into the officer's death in a time-bound manner.