Gurugram: Police are yet to recover the remnants of a bullet linked to the alleged suicide of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sandeep Lathar, who left behind a video as well as a note levelling allegations of corruption against late Haryana Inspector General (IG) Y.Puran Kumar.
Apart from this missing piece of evidence, the details of the First Information Report (FIR) in Lathar’s case are yet to be made public. Given the sketchy details, questions are being raised about the probe into what has become a high-profile saga involving allegations of corruption, caste-based discrimination, harassment, and abetment to suicide.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Rohtak city, Gulab Singh confirmed that the police was yet to recover the “lead core” (central part of the projectile) of the bullet that killed Lathar.
“Since, the ASI allegedly committed suicide on the open fields standing on the roof of a room built for the tubewell motor, the bullet seems to have been lost in agriculture fields,” Singh told ThePrint over phone Tuesday.
“While we recovered the Khol (cover) of the bullet from the spot, the core pierced through his skull and must have landed somewhere in the fields. There are paddy fields all around. We have deployed people to look for it. We hope to recover soon.”
Prakash Singh, a retired Director General of Police (DGP) who served as chief of the Border Security Force, Uttar Pradesh and Assam Police, told The Print that the core is vital evidence in such cases.
He expressed surprise over the police’s claims that the core could have fallen somewhere in the paddy fields.
“Skull is a very hard structure, and this is the reason it is termed as coconut. If a bullet is fired from a service revolver, the core will in all likelihood remain stuck in the skull. If at all it could pierce through, it would be found stuck on the other side or fall near the body. It is highly unlikely that the core will travel so far to fall in the fields,” Singh said.
While IPS officer Y Puran Kumar’s body was found with gunshot wounds at his Chandigarh house on 7 October, Lathar’s body was recovered from a field in Rohtak on 14 October.
In his suicide note, the 2001-batch IPS officer accused Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur (now, on leave) and then Rohtak Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Bijarniya of trying to frame him in a false case of corruption, among others.
Posted in Rohtak’s cyber cell and part of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA-2) team, Lathar had investigated the corruption charges against Puran Kumar’s personal security officer, head constable Sushil Kumar, as well as was involved in his arrest on 5 October.
In his video and note, Lathar accused Puran Kumar of corruption, besides implicating Kumar’s family members of putting pressure in the case. The next day, the Rohtak police registered an FIR in Lathar’s suicide case.
The police, according to DSP Singh, were not making the copy public because of “some reasons”.
Singh remained tight-lipped to a question that certain media reports named Puran Kumar’s IAS wife Amneet P. Kumar, and her brother and Aam Aadmi Party legislator Amit Rattan. “No comments on this. I can’t confirm or deny anything about this FIR,” the DSP told The Print.
Asked about the Special Investigation Team (SIT) announced to investigate the Lathar case, the Rohtak SP said that the local police were investigating the case, so far.
Though the FIR’s contents are under wrap, a Chief Minister Officer’s staff is said to have informed Lathar’s family that the charges of abetment to suicide, criminal conspiracy were invoked in the case. They were also reportedly told the names of Puran Kumar’s wife and her MLA brother as well as Sushil Kumar and another policeman were present in the FIR.
Later, Chief Minister Nayyab Saini visited the family and assured them of ensuring justice, while Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar assured a job to the next of kin. Subsequently, the family gave consent to conduct an autopsy on 16 October following which the last rites were done.
As investigations continue, the Haryana police faces mounting pressure to ensure transparency in its probe into Lathar’s case.
Bhoopesh Kumar Sharma, a professor of forensic science at Gurugram’s Shree Guru Gobind Singh University, said that even the cover of the bullet is sufficient evidence in a court of law.
“The cover of the bullet is sufficient to establish the nature of weapon used in the crime, the type of weapon and its calibre, while the nature of injury can prove the distance, impact and direction of the firing,” Sharma told ThePrint.
The forensic expert differed with retired IPS officer Prakash Singh over the impact of the bullet on a human skull. “Normally, a bullet fired at 50 to 60 meters per seconds (m/s) is sufficient to pierce through…. The bullet fired from a service revolver travels (approximately) 300 m/s, which is sufficient to pierce through the skull,” he told ThePrint.
When the firearm is fired close to the temple, the bullet comes out from the other side with a huge impact, he explained. “In such a case, the muzzle pattern of the weapon is also imprinted on the temple in bluish colour, further confirming the type of weapon used.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)