‘Crores of Indians stand for justice’: Sonia Gandhi writes to late Haryana IPS officer’s wife

Chandigarh: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday wrote a letter to bureaucrat Amneet P Kumar, wife of late Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar, who allegedly died by suicide, saying the incident “reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of discriminatory attitude”.

“The passing away of Mr Y Puran Kumar reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of the discriminatory attitude and the preconceived notions of the powers that be. Crores of Indians stand with you in your fight for justice,” she wrote.

The incident will continue to remind “us that even today the prejudiced and biased attitude of those in power deprives even the highest-ranking officials of social justice”.

“On this path of justice, I and millions of fellow countrymen stand with you,” she said, adding, “I pray that in this difficult situation, the god grants you patience, courage, and strength.”

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

The victim’s spouse, Amneet P. Kumar, a Haryana cadre senior bureaucrat, in a letter to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has sought justice for her husband.

The letter, marked urgent and confidential, two 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 Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.

Meanwhile, the government has removed Bijarniya from his post and has been replaced by Surinder Singh Bhoria as the Superintendent of Police of Rohtak. No posting has been given to Bijarniya as of now.

Congress Member of Parliament Deepender Hooda met the family of IPS officer. After meeting, he said, “If the family has confidence in justice, then we will also have confidence. At the moment, the family believes that the government has not acted in the past two-three days in accordance with the law, Constitution and morality. This has grieved the family more. This is above politics; it is about the country and every section of society, it is about justice.”

Another Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “In Haryana, when an ADGP-rank officer is not being given justice, you can imagine the situation of a common man. If a senior officer such as him can fall prey to caste discrimination and can be forced to commit suicide, you can have a rough idea about the situation of the common man in the country, and especially in Haryana.”

Surjewala questioned, “What is the reason that he did not have permission to go to the temple and pray, what was the reason that he was not allowed to go home when his father passed away? What was the reason that his letter addressing the issue of casteism went unanswered by the government? IPS Puran Kumar’s body was forcibly taken from Sector 16 to the PGI (for autopsy) without his family’s consent.”

IANS