Rohtak, India, October 17: Police in Haryana’s Rohtak district on Wednesday filed a criminal case against senior IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, her brother and Punjab legislator Amit Rattan, and two others for alleged abetment of suicide of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sandeep Lathar, whose death has triggered a political and administrative row following the recent suicide of her husband, IPS officer Y Puran Kumar.
A police officer said the four have been booked under Sections 108 (abetment to suicide) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The case also names exemptee ASI Sushil Kumar and Sunil, a policeman posted at the Inspector General’s office in Rohtak.
Lathar, who was posted in the cyber cell in Rohtak, allegedly shot himself dead at his village on Tuesday evening, leaving behind a purported suicide note accusing the late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar of corruption. The 41-year-old officer’s death came just over a week after Puran Kumar, 52, died by suicide at his Chandigarh residence on October 7, shortly after being posted as Inspector General, Police Training Centre, Sunaria (Rohtak).
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini met Lathar’s family members earlier in the day and assured them of “appropriate action.” His officer on special duty (OSD), Virender Singh Badhkhalsa, told reporters that the government had accepted the family’s demands, including registration of an FIR, a government job for Lathar’s widow, last rites with state honours, and a time-bound investigation.
The post-mortem examination of Lathar’s body is to be conducted at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak, on Thursday morning, after which the cremation will take place at his native village Julana in Jind district.
Meanwhile, the autopsy of IPS officer Puran Kumar was completed at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on Wednesday by a medical board of four experts. His body was cremated later in the day at the Sector 25 crematorium, where he was accorded a guard of honour by the police.
In a statement issued earlier, Amneet P Kumar said she had given consent for her husband’s autopsy following assurances from Chandigarh Police of a fair probe and a commitment from the Haryana government that action would be taken against “erring officers.” She expressed hope that “justice will be served at the earliest.”
