Haryana ASI who arrested Puran Kumar's aide found dead
Rohtak, Oct. 15 -- Adding a murky twist to the alleged suicide of Haryana inspector general of police Y Puran Kumar, a state police assistant sub-inspector in Rohtak shot himself dead on Tuesday and purportedly levelled corruption allegations against the late IPS officer who served in the same district.
Sandeep Lathar, 41, accused Puran Kumar and his family of widespread graft in a three-page note and six-minute video, claiming he had "ample evidence" against the senior officer. HT could not independently verify the veracity of either the note of the video.
He was part of the Rohtak CIA-2 team that intercepted and arrested Kumar's associate on October 6 following a corruption complaint. IGP Kumar, 52, was found dead at his Chandigarh residence the next day.
Tuesday's death plunges Haryana Police further into murkier waters marked by conflicting allegations that span corruption, casteism and harassment - IGP Puran Kumar named eight senior officials in a note he left behind on October 7, including that of the state's police chief Shatrujeet Kapur.
Kapur was "sent on leave" by the state government late on Monday. Kumar's wife, senior Haryana bureaucrat Amneet P Kumar, has refused to give consent for an autopsy, demanding the arrest of Kapur and now-suspended Rohtak police superintendent Narenrdra Bijarniya.
In the purported suicide note and video he recorded, Lathur termed the 2001-batch IPS officer a "corrupt officer" and alleged that Kumar died by suicide out of fear of arrest. He accused Kumar of "hijacking the system by exploiting casteism". In what could be seen as the motive for Lathar's alleged suicide, he wrote, in Hindi: "I am demanding an investigation by sacrificing my life. This corrupt family should not be spared." Rohtak superintendent of police Surendra Singh Bhoria, speaking to reporters at the crime scene on the Ladhot-Dhamar road, described Lathar as a "hardworking and honest" officer. "His body has been found. A forensic team has been called and the investigation is underway," he said.
Lathar was found dead in a room adjacent to farmlands owned by his uncle. A farm labourer identified by police as Jaildar discovered Lathar's body after hearing a gunshot while working nearby. "I reached inside the room and spotted Sandeep (Lathar) lying near a charpoy and informed his family following which the police were informed," he added.
A day before Kumar died, Lathar was part of the Rohtak CIA-2 team that intercepted and arrested the late IGP's associate Sushil Kumar, an exemptee assistant sub-inspector following a complaint by liquor contractor Praveen Bansal.
An FIR was registered in Rohtak under the Prevention of Corruption Act, alleging that Sushil had taken Rs.2.5 lakh from Bansal on behalf of Puran Kumar, who was then the inspector general of police for Rohtak range until September 29....
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