Chandigarh: A year after Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar shot himself at his Chandigarh home, his family let go of the one claim meant to secure his daughter’s future: a job in the state civil service.
The family instead opted for compassionate financial assistance. Under this, the Haryana government will pay Puran Kumar’s widow, IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, an amount equivalent to his last drawn salary for seven years. She will also receive dearness allowance and a fixed medical allowance, while house rent allowance will be paid for two years. As per the conditions attached with the order, the assistance ceases in case the recipient dies or remarries. Any family pension already received will be adjusted against the assistance amount.
The Director General of Police issued the order following instructions from the Home Department. A senior state police officer confirmed that the police released all benefits in accordance with the rules.
On September 11, Amneet wrote to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, requesting him to treat her daughter’s claim for a compassionate appointment to the Haryana Civil Services (HCS) as withdrawn and grant financial assistance to the family instead. She also sought a revision of her husband’s terminal benefits. Saini approved the requests in late October.
Under the HCS (Compassionate Financial Assistance or Appointment) Rules, 2019, an appointment on compassionate grounds is allowed only if the employee dies before turning 52. In Puran Kumar’s case, he was 52 years and four months old when he died. The government had not decided on the daughter’s file, which kept moving between offices, after which the family took the financial assistance route.
The Lathar family
The assistance for Puran Kumar’s family follows a similar decision to that of another family caught up in the case. Assistant Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar Lathar, 41, of the Rohtak cyber cell, shot himself at his village, Ladhot, on 14 October last year. He left a note and a six-minute video accusing Puran Kumar of corruption.
The Haryana Cabinet approved a government job for his wife, Santosh Kumari, at its meeting on 1 January this year. She has since joined as a teacher at the Campus School of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had assured the family of a job and help with the children’s education when he met them in Rohtak two days after the ASI’s death.
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The Puran Kumar case
Puran Kumar, a Haryana-cadre IPS officer of the 2001 batch, died on 7 October 2025. He was posted as Inspector General at the Police Training Centre in Sunaria, Rohtak. He left an eight-page note.
The note named 14 persons, including then DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya. His wife alleged caste-based harassment and humiliation in her complaint given to the Chandigarh Police.
Following the suicide, the family refused a post-mortem for eight days. They demanded that those named be booked and arrested. The Chandigarh Police then registered an FIR based on the note and later amended it to add the SC/ST Act, alongside abetment of suicide under the BNS.
A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) under IG Pushpendra Kumar was formed on 10 October. The state government sent Kapur on leave and transferred Bijarniya. Kapur was later removed as DGP.
The autopsy was done at PGIMER on 15 October, after Amneet’s consent. Puran Kumar was cremated the same day with full state honours.
The case changed course on 14 October with Lathar’s death. Lathar had been part of the team that arrested Head Constable Sushil Kumar, Puran Kumar’s gunman, in a bribery case on 6 October. That arrest was a day before the IPS officer died. Amneet has called the FIR against Sushil the immediate trigger for her husband’s death. On 15 October, the Rohtak Police registered an FIR for abetment of suicide and criminal conspiracy on Santosh’s complaint. It names Amneet, her brother and Punjab legislator Amit Rattan, Sushil Kumar and another policeman.
The SIT has since questioned officials named in the note, including Kapur. The investigation is ongoing.
If you are feeling suicidal or depressed, please call a helpline number in your state.
(Edited by Anupama Yadav)
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