Ramdas Athawale meets late Haryana IPS officer's family; seeks action against DGP

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (IANS) Union Minister Ramdas Athawale along with Ravneet Singh Bittu on Monday met the family of the late Haryana Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Y. Puran Kumar here and the former said he told the family that “we are with them… action should be taken against both (the DGP and the former SP)”.

Athawale said anti-Dalit mentality continues in the country. “I met the victim's family who alleged that Kumar was harassed by his senior. They said someone else did wrong and the blame was put on Kumar.”

He said the Dalit community across the country is enraged over the IPS officer's death. “Even after 75 years of independence, the Constitution drafted Bhimrao Ambedkar is still being insulted,” said Athawale.

He added that he has sought time to meet Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and will be talking to him about this.

“I met Y. Puran Kumar’s brothers -- one lives in Hyderabad and another in Mumbai. I met Amneet P. Kumar and her father too. Y. Puran Kumar comes from the Dalit community. The family is claiming that Y. Puran Kumar was subjected to casteist remarks and humiliation for a long time. Others used to do wrongs, and he was being accused of those wrongs. After a lot of struggle, he got into the IPS cadre. He was under so much pressure that he was forced to take the extreme step,” he told the media after coming out of Kumar’s official residence in Sector 24.

“I have told the family that we are with them. There are allegations against DGP (Shatrujeet Singh Kapur) and former SP (Rohtak)… Action should be taken against both,” Athawale added.

Bittu also met the family members of Kumar. After the meeting, he said, "Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini had a conversation with him on the case. The CM has said the Haryana government will take a major decision on the case.”

In a fast-changing political developments, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will pay a condolence visit at the residence of the late Haryana IGP officer Y. Puran Kumar in Chandigarh on Tuesday evening.

Seven days after IPS officer’s ‘suicide’, the body still in mortuary.

Rahul Gandhi will arrive at 5.15 p.m. on October 14 and meet Amneet P. Kumar, the widow of the deceased IPS officer.

The family had refused to permit a postmortem examination or last rites until the arrest of Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur, ousted Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, and other officers named in Kumar’s “final note”.

Inspector General of Puran Kumar allegedly shot himself dead at his Chandigarh residence on October 7 with his service revolver and left behind a "final note".

The police officer has not been cremated even seven days after his suicide.

Stalemate continues between Puran Kumar’s wife, IAS officer Amneet P. Kumar, and the Haryana government over arrests of DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.

The victim's spouse, Amneet P. Kumar, a Haryana cadre senior bureaucrat, in a letter to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who has also visited her residence to express grief, has sought justice for her husband.

The letter, marked urgent and confidential, three days ago expressed anguish over what she described as a "grave injustice" and "complete administrative inaction" even after more than 48 hours of her husband's death. In a nine-page "suicide note", Puran Kumar reportedly accused nine serving IPS officers of the Haryana Police, a retired IPS officer and three retired IAS officers of "caste-based discrimination".

The serving officers included DGP Kapur and Superintendent of Police Bijarniya. Describing the death as very heartbreaking, state Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Hooda said in Rohtak: “Our only demand is that the guilty be punished. Delivering justice is the responsibility of the government. The government should not deviate from its responsibility.”

--IANS

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