Wife alleges 'undue pressure' forced Haryana ASI to commit suicide

Chandigarh: "Undue pressure" by Amneet P Kumar, the wife of deceased IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, and MLA Amit Rattan and two other cops "forced" Assistant Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar Lathar to end his life, according to an FIR registered in the suicide case.

The FIR was lodged based on a complaint by Lathar's wife, who has levelled serious allegations against Amneet Kumar, an IAS officer, and her brother, who is the MLA from Bathinda Rural.

Puran Kumar, too, committed suicide in Chandigarh earlier this month.

Sandeep's wife, Santosh, has also sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the entire episode. Amneet Kumar and Rattan could not be reached for a response.

ASI Lathar, who was posted in the cyber cell in Rohtak, had allegedly shot himself dead on October 14. He left behind a note, in which he levelled corruption allegations against the late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who also served in the same district.

In a six-minute video, he had also made a reference to Puran Kumar's wife, who is a senior bureaucrat in Haryana.

ASI Lathar had played a role in the arrest of head constable Sushil Kumar, who was IG Puran Kumar's gunman.

Sushil Kumar was arrested in connection with a case pertaining to a bribery complaint filed by a liquor contractor. The contractor alleged that Sushil Kumar had sought Rs 2.5 lakh in the name of Puran Kumar when he was posted in Rohtak.

Puran Kumar, 52, who had recently been posted as Inspector General, Police Training Centre in Rohtak's Sunaria, had shot himself dead at his Chandigarh residence on October 7.

In a 'final note' left by Puran Kumar, he alleged harassment, including caste discrimination, by senior cops in Haryana. Police have lodged a case in the matter.

A separate abetment of suicide case was filed on October 15 in connection with the death of ASI Sandeep Kumar Lathar following a complaint by his wife, Santosh.

The FIR was registered against IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, Bathinda Rural MLA Rattan, Puran Kumar's gunman Sushil Kumar, another policeman posted at Rohtak IG office, Sunil, and an unknown person.

Santosh alleged that before and after the registration of the corruption case, Puran Kumar's gunman, Sushil Kumar; Sunil Kumar, another cop posted at the IPS officer's office in Rohtak; and others "were continuously pressuring and threatening" her husband.

The threats, Santosh alleged in her complaint, were made, "citing the influence of IG Puran Kumar's wife Amneet P Kumar, her brother (MLA Amit Rattan), and their relatives in the Scheduled Castes Commission because my husband Sandeep was involved in the investigation of this case." Santosh alleged a vigilance investigation was underway against Puran Kumar and his wife, as well as some other IAS and IPS officers, and the government was expected to take strict action against them.

To avoid government action against them, Puran Kumar's family and "some other corrupt officers" were exerting "undue pressure" to stop these proceedings and were seeking action against "honest officers", she said.

"Because of this, IG Puran Kumar committed suicide. IG's wife Amneet P Kumar and her brother, Amit Rattan, did not get the post-mortem of Kumar's body done in order to put pressure on the government to arrest honest officers and employees of the police department..." she claimed.

Santosh said that while Sushil Kumar was arrested, others were yet to be arrested. She added that this is why her husband, ASI Sandeep Lathar, committed suicide.

"This is why my husband took this extreme step and ended his life. This is a fight between honest and corrupt officers," she wrote in the complaint.

Santosh asked authorities to look into the properties owned by them and the accused to determine "who is corrupt and who is honest". "There should be a CBI probe into the entire episode," she said.