Haryana IPS Officer’s Death Sends ‘Distressing Message’ Of Injustice, Says Rahul Gandhi

Haryana IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar’s death by suicide has sent a message to millions of Dalits that, regardless of how successful they become, they can still be crushed and discarded, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said today.

Gandhi met the senior IPS officer’s family at their home in Chandigarh, accompanied by senior Congress leaders Deepender Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja.

Speaking to the media after the visit, Gandhi said the officer had faced systemic discrimination for years, as colleagues sought to demoralise him and damage his career and reputation.

“This is not just about one family. There are millions of Dalit brothers and sisters across the country. A dangerous message is being sent to them that no matter how successful, intelligent or capable you are, if you are a Dalit, you can be crushed, trampled upon and discarded. This is unacceptable to us,” he said.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to take immediate action against the officers named in the suicide note found at Y. Puran Kumar’s home.

The 2001-batch IPS officer is reported to have shot himself dead at his residence on October 7. He is survived by his wife, senior IAS officer Amneet P. Kumar, and two daughters. The family has refused to consent to a post-mortem examination until action is taken against those named in the suicide note.

Kumar, who held the rank of Inspector General of Police, accused ten senior and retired police officers of “blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities”.

Those named include Haryana’s Director General of Police, Shatrujeet Singh Kapur, who has since been sent on leave, and Rohtak Police Chief Narendra Bijarnia, who has been transferred. Kumar’s family has demanded that an FIR be registered against them.

“This is not an ordinary case of suicide but the direct result of the systematic persecution of my husband — an officer from the Scheduled Caste community — by powerful and high-ranking officials who used their authority to mentally torture him, ultimately driving him to such despair that he felt he had no option but to take his own life,” Amneet Kumar stated in her complaint.