Haryana Police is currently embroiled in a severe systemic crisis following the recent suicides of a senior IPS officer and an ASI, which have brought explosive, conflicting allegations of caste harassment and widespread corruption to light.
The Haryana Police force is grappling with a severe crisis following the suicides of two police personnel—a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI)—within a span of ten days. The twin tragedies, coupled with explosive allegations of deep-rooted corruption, caste-based harassment, and a system failure, have triggered a political storm and exposed a systemic rot in the state’s administration.
The Tragedy of IPS Y Puran Kumar
The crisis began on October 7, when Y Puran Kumar, a 2001-batch IPS officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), allegedly shot himself dead at his government residence in Chandigarh. The 52-year-old officer left behind an eight-page “final note” in which he reportedly named 16 senior IAS and IPS officers, accusing them of “blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation, and atrocities.”
Kumar, who belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, meticulously documented years of alleged persecution by his superiors, suggesting a systemic effort to demoralize him and damage his career and reputation. His wife, Amneet P. Kumar, a senior IAS officer, has been at the forefront of the fight for justice, demanding the immediate arrest of officers, including Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur and the then-Rohtak Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Bijarniya, for abetting her husband’s suicide.
The family’s determination to secure justice led to a remarkable and telling stalemate: they refused to give consent for the post-mortem and cremation of the officer until their demands are met. The FIR has since been amended to include the stringent Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, a move sought by Amneet P. Kumar, further underscoring the severity of the caste harassment allegations.
After the nine-day stalemate over the post-mortem, the body was cremated with the consent of his wife and IAS officer Amneet P. Kumar on October 15.
The impasses ended with the Haryana government’s assurance to the family of a fair and impartial probe, besides a commitment that action will be taken against “erring” officials. Puran Kumar’s family members, his colleagues, comprising O.P. Singh, who has been given the additional charge of Director General of Police by replacing Shatrujeet Kapur, bureaucrats, politicians and scores of sympathisers attended the funeral here.
Following the family’s consent, an autopsy was carried out at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). The PGIMER, in a statement, said the post-mortem examination of Puran Kumar was conducted on Wednesday by a constituted medical board following all due procedures. The post-mortem report will be submitted to the investigating officer of the Special Investigation Team (SIT). “The mortal remains of Y. Puran Kumar have been respectfully handed over to the family members,” said the PGIMER.
The Counter-Narrative: ASI Sandeep Kumar’s “Sacrifice”
A week later, the crisis deepened with a sudden and dramatic twist. On October 14, ASI Sandeep Kumar from the Rohtak Cyber Cell, was found dead from a gunshot wound in Laadoth village. He left behind a ‘final note’ and a video message that directly contradicted the narrative surrounding the IPS officer’s death.
In his last message, ASI Sandeep, a Jat officer, accused the late IPS Y Puran Kumar of widespread corruption, bribery, extortion, and sexual harassment of women police personnel, alleging that the IPS officer’s suicide was driven by fear of a corruption investigation that would expose his entire family. Sandeep is heard saying he was making the first “sacrifice” for justice, echoing the spirit of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. He further alleged that the IPS officer was attempting to “twist this into a caste issue to exert pressure.”
ASI Sandeep praised the integrity of the then-Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya and former DGP Shatrujeet Kapur, both of whom were named in Kumar’s note, adding another complex layer of conflicting accusations to the investigation. The family of ASI Sandeep has also refused to allow the cremation until an FIR is registered and a fair probe is launched into their son’s allegations.
The dual suicides have fueled a massive political backlash against the ruling BJP-led government in Haryana.
Congress MP Kumari Selja launched a scathing attack on the state government, stating: “This is a serious matter. It clearly shows that all is not well within the Haryana government. This raises questions about the administration’s trust in the government. Why are high-ranking officers taking such extreme steps? Why are they dying by suicide? First, it was IPS officer Puran Kumar, and now an ASI. This indicates that the administration has lost faith in the government. It is the government’s biggest failure.”
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, visited the family of IPS Y Puran Kumar, lending significant political weight to the caste discrimination charge. Addressing the media, he asserted that the incident was not merely a family matter, but one that sends a “wrong message to Dalits”: “The message that no matter how successful, intelligent, or capable you are, if you are a Dalit, you can be suppressed, crushed, and discarded. This is unacceptable to us.”
Gandhi directly urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to “fulfil the commitment to daughters of IPS Puran Kumar, let his funeral take place,” and to “take action against the officers responsible and release the pressure on this family.”
The Systemic Circus: A Critique
The immediate political fallout, including the transfer of Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya and the placement of DGP Shatrujeet Kapur on leave, underscores the pressure on the government. However, the sequence of events—from the IPS officer’s detailed charges of caste-based harassment to the ASI’s counter-allegations of massive corruption—paints a damning picture of a system in complete breakdown.
The ongoing standoff over the cremation of IPS Y Puran Kumar, a week after his death, highlights the deep mistrust the family holds in the current system to deliver justice. The involvement of senior officers, the allegations of institutional bias, and the dramatic counter-claims by a subordinate officer suggest a nexus of corruption and power dynamics at play.
The state’s machinery, often perceived to be influenced by political proximity, as inferred in the Opposition’s critique, is now engaged in a struggle to maintain credibility. The “systemic circus” of conflicting narratives—caste-based persecution vs. a cover-up for corruption—requires an immediate, independent, and high-level judicial inquiry to unearth the truth and restore faith in the administration of justice in Haryana. The lives of two officers have been lost, and the integrity of the entire police force is at stake.