Gurugram: The case of alleged suicide by Haryana IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar, who had accused several senior officers, including the Haryana DGP, of caste discrimination, is getting murkier.
On Tuesday, Sandeep Kumar, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) posted at Rohtak, allegedly shot himself. His body was recovered from a farm along the Lahli road in Rohtak.
Later, the police recovered a purported final note and a video from the spot, with ASI Sandeep Kumar accusing late IPS Puran Kumar and his IAS officer wife of corruption in the video. The Print, however, can’t confirm the authenticity of the charges. The police have not so far confirmed the authenticity of the note and the video.
Rohtak’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Surinder Singh Bhoria said that a forensic team would soon begin investigations into the death. Asked about the note as well as the video, now circulating on social media, SP Bhoria said he couldn’t comment on those immediately.
“Sandeep Kumar was a dedicated and honest employee of the police force. He was part of our family,” SP Bhoria told ThePrint. Asked if there was any link to the Y. Puran Kumar case, SP Bhoria added that he would not be able to answer that, as of now.
Sandeep Kumar was part of the cyber cell, Rohtak police, and going by the purported final note and the video, he was part of the police party that arrested Y. Puran Kumar’s gunman Sushil Kumar in a corruption and extortion case.
That case is the same “false case” that Y. Puran Kumar mentioned in his eight-page ‘final’ note, alleging that DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya framed him, and they forced his gunman, Sushil Kumar, to implicate him.
In the video, ASI Sandeep Kumar stated, “IPS Puran died by suicide due to fear of being defamed in a corruption case. He was afraid that it would affect his family’s political career.”
On 6 October, Rohtak police arrested Sushil Kumar for demanding a bribe from a liquor trader. The very next day, IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar shot himself at his Chandigarh house.
ASI Sandeep Kumar, who hailed from Julana in Jind district, was living at his maternal uncle’s house on Lahli Road in Rohtak and had been posted in the cyber cell for a year. When the ASI did not report for duty Tuesday, his colleagues called him several times. But he did not pick up.
Around 2 pm, the police control room (PCR) received an input that ASI Sandeep Kumar’s body had been found. Rohtak’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Surinder Singh Bhoria and Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Prateek Agarwal, along with the CIA and Sadar police teams, reached the spot and also called forensics expert Dr Saroj Dahiya there to collect evidence.
In purportedly his last video, ASI Sandeep Kumar recorded himself, saying, “I, Sandeep Kumar, want to make you aware of a truth. The cost of truth is very high. Bhagat Singh also sacrificed his life so that the country could awaken. There is a corrupt police officer who took money in a murder case under the Sadar Police Station. He struck a Rs 50 crore deal to save Rao Inderjit Singh.” The ASI was likely referring to a trader by the Union minister’s name, the minister’s personal secretary II Naresh Sharma told ThePrint.
ASI Sandeep Kumar said in the video that Narendra Bijarniya was an honest officer and stood firm against Puran Kumar and his gunman. At his posting, Bijarniya always worked with integrity, lived within his salary, did not tolerate corruption, and worked for the welfare of police personnel, the ASI stated.
“The day this IG (Kumar) was posted, he began noting the caste of each employee in the office and started transferring them, replacing them with his corrupt associates,” ASI Sandeep Kumar said in the video.
The ASI also charged that gunman Sushil Kumar and IPS Puran Kumar knew which files had irregularities, so they started summoning people and demanding bribes.
“What I am saying is the truth. They created such an environment that whoever went there was harassed by Kumar’s gunman, Sushil, for money. You people sit on the chair of justice—how can you demand money? A businessman (the liquor contractor on whose complaint the police first booked Sushil) is already distressed, already being threatened by goons with death, and you still call him and harass him. Is this what you got your position for?” ASI Sandeep Yadav questioned.
“His wife is an IAS officer, and his brother-in-law is an MLA. Ultimately, justice is delivered by the public. I am telling the truth today. It was due to the fear of the corruption complaint against him that he died by suicide,” said the ASI, adding that the wife was pretending to be innocent only to hide her corruption and avoid scrutiny of her assets.
Talking about Sushil Kumar’s arrest, the ASI further said, “When we caught gunman Sushil, he said on the way that one thing was left—he collected another bribe, and the money was still in the car’s dashboard. The driver, Dharmendra, had taken that car.” Both were in the vehicle, and later, served notices to join the investigation.
The ASI further called for a probe into such corruption.
“When he (Kumar) realised that his sins had reached the brim and that exposure would defame him and harm his family’s political standing, he chose to end his life to protect them,” ASI Sandeep Kumar said. “His wife was also afraid of being implicated in the corruption case. The family misused their position in the commission for corruption.”
“There should be an inquiry. Does the family have a license to do wrong? They took bribes; he was a corrupt man.”
He added, “I am a fan of Bhagat Singh. The money that gunman Sushil Kumar brought from Sunaria was kept in the car’s dashboard—his daughter received that money. When he [Puran Kumar] found out that the matter of money had come to light, he killed himself.”
“Now I am offering my life for this cause. Our nation always awakens after such sacrifices. I feel proud that I am an honest man. I have the courage to raise my children with integrity. I am not corrupt; I am a follower of Bhagat Singh. But to awaken the public, I must sacrifice myself while fighting for truth.”
ASI Sandeep Kumar also said that the IAS lobby wanted to remove the DGP, who was an honest man. The IAS lobby wanted the DGP gone so they could enjoy the spoils, the ASI claimed, adding that such officers were destroying the nation.
“Did Bhagat Singh die for this? If he were alive today, he would be ashamed of how these people are spreading the poison of caste. Are we fighting for people like Y. Puran Kumar? They are trying to give everything a caste angle. He did wrong, and he will get his punishment. With this, goodbye, my friends. Even if I am born again, I will be the same,” he said.
Also Read: Chandigarh cops shielding Haryana DGP, Rohtak SP? IPS Puran Kumar’s IAS wife flags ‘incomplete FIR’
Who was Sandeep Kumar
On Sunday, ASI Sandeep Kumar visited his home in Julana.
A labourer who was working in the fields of the ASI’s maternal uncle’s house for the past 15 years, Balwan Deshwal, told ThePrint, “I live in a small room (hut) built in the field. Around 1 pm, I went near the canal. When I returned, I heard the sound of a gunshot near the room. I rushed to the spot and saw that Sandeep had shot himself. I immediately informed Balwan’s son Ajit about the incident over the phone.”
In his purported final note, ASI Sandeep Kumar introduced himself as the son of Dayanand and a man who has always stood by the truth.
“I admire honest and righteous people. My grandfather and grand-uncle fought for the nation; they served in the Army. My grand-uncle was even imprisoned in Burma (Myanmar) for seven years during the war for India. Patriotism runs in my veins. Nothing is greater than the nation and society,” he said.
The ASI considered Bhagat Singh his role model. He wrote in the note that the sacrifice Bhagat Singh had made to free India made the freedom fighter a legend.
“If it were not for people like Bhagat Singh, would India have gained Independence? He could have escaped, but he chose not to—he inspires generations. This is a serious issue in our society: corruption and casteism obstruct truth and idealism,” the ASI added.
IAS officers & corruption
According to ASI Sandeep Kumar’s purported final note, IAS officers remain involved in widespread corruption. But he wrote that since the BJP government came to power, some honest officers, to a great extent, managed to curb it.
“The DGP (Shatrujeet Singh Kapur) is an honest and fearless person. Initially, I faced some difficulties adjusting to this environment, but my heart has always stood, and will always stand, with the truth,” the note read.
ASI Sandeep Kumar said that when Puran Kumar joined as Inspector General (IG) of Police at Rohtak, he immediately began posting staff in his office, transferring honest and hardworking officers elsewhere, and spreading the poison of casteism among the police personnel.
The ASI alleged that Puran Kumar summoned employees to his office under the pretext of files, intimidated them, and extorted money. Though there would be no complaints, the ASI wrote that Puran Kumar called for files from the Rohtak Range, only to find minor errors, after which he allegedly made his gunman, Sushil Kumar, mentally torture and collect bribes from the officers concerned.
ASI Sandeep Kumar alleged that female police officers were called to the office, harassed in the name of transfers, and sexually exploited.
Ordinary citizens and business people were called to the office, physically and mentally tortured, and later, heavily extorted, not only promoting corruption but crossing all limits of oppression, according to the ASI.
His note further added that the IAS lobby had found an opportunity to target honest officers and had been spreading caste-based poison across Haryana, often harassing upright and hardworking officials.
The ASI wrote that it was essential for the country and society to move forward beyond caste. The black crows (Kale Kauve) of the society—the corrupt officials—were now trying to weaken that fight, he claimed.
“But they forget that patriotism flows through our veins. A hundred lives, like mine, may be sacrificed, but the nation will never bow down, and truth will triumph. In this battle of truth and integrity, I offer my first sacrifice…” he added.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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