Chandigarh: The cremation of Assitant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sandeep Lathar, who allegedly died by suicide on October 14 accusing late IGP Puran Kumar of corruption, was held at Lathar’s native village Julana in Haryana’s Jind district, with ceremonial police honours Thursday evening.
The cremation was attended by four state ministers – Ranbir Gangwa, Krishan Lal Panwar, Shruti Choudhry, Mahipal Dhanda – deputy Speaker Krishan Middha and BJP state president Mohan Lal Badoli, besides several political leaders.
Haryana DGP O P Singh and several senior police officers attended the cremation before which a ceremonial gun salute was given to the deceased ASI Lathar on the occasion.
Other senior political leaders who attended the cremation included Congress MP Deepender Hooda, Congress Julana MLA Vinesh Phogat, INLD leaders Abhay Chautala and Rampal Majra and Jannayak Janta Party Ajay Chautala.
Earlier in the day, post mortem was conducted of deceased ASI Lathar’s body at PGIMS at Rohtak where Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar who visited the bereaved family members and assured them that the state BJP government would provide a job to the ASI Lathar’s widow besides funding children’s education.
Body of the deceased ASI was brought to the PGIMS late Wednesday night after his family allowed the police for the post-mortem following registration of an FIR in connection with Lathar’s suicide case. Lathar was part of a police team which had arrested late IPS officer Kumar's aide Sushil Kumar in a corruption case on October 6.
Subsequently, registering the FIR, the Rohtak police on Wednesday night booked Kumar’s wife and IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, her brother and Bathinda (rural) AAP MLA Amit Rattan, EASI Sushil Kumar and another police personnel posted at IG office, Rohtak, on the charges of abetment of suicide and criminal conspiracy.
Kumar, a 2001-batch IPS officer, who was posted as IG, police training centre, Rohtak on September 25 last, had shot himself dead at his residence in Chandigarh, on October 7 and accused in his ``suicide note’’ nine senior serving IPS officers, including the DGP Sharujeet Kapur, (now removed) Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, a retired IPS officer and three retired IAS officers, of ``caste-based discrimination, public humiliation, targeted mental harassment and atrocities’’ for the suicide. Kumar belonged to the SC community.
Kumar’s post-mortem was conducted at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on Wednesday morning after the family finally gave its consent after the government assured of a fair probe, action against all the erring officials and DGP Kapur was sent on leave. DGP Kapur was replaced by 1992-batch IPS officer O P Singh during Kapur's leave period. The government also removed Bijarniya from the post.
