CHANDIGARH, Nov 10 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday asked the Chandigarh Police to submit a detailed status report on the investigation into the alleged suicide of Haryana IGP Y. Puran Kumar, who was found dead at his Sector 11 residence on October 7.
The direction came during the hearing of a petition filed by Navneet Kumar, a Ludhiana-based activist and head of the Hope Welfare Society NGO, seeking transfer of the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The petitioner argued that the move was necessary “to safeguard the integrity of the Indian Police Service and ensure justice free from local influence or institutional bias.”
Filed on October 17, the petition has yet to be formally admitted, with the court noting that the petitioner must first establish why the investigation merits transfer to the CBI.
During Monday’s proceedings, the division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry once again questioned the petitioner’s counsel on the grounds for seeking a CBI probe. The lawyer contended that “no tangible progress” had been made in the case and that no arrests had taken place so far. He also cited the subsequent death by suicide of another police officer linked to the case as a sign of “deep-rooted issues requiring an independent probe.”
The Chandigarh Police, represented by the UT counsel, informed the court that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had been constituted to probe the case but sought additional time to present a detailed progress report. The bench then adjourned the hearing to Wednesday, directing the UT counsel to apprise the court of the latest developments.
Kumar, 52, had left behind a nine-page note naming senior IPS and IAS officers — including Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur (currently on leave) and former Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya — accusing them of caste-based harassment and humiliation.
The SIT is currently probing the allegations raised in the note. Another officer, Sandeep Lather, who had previously arrested one of Kumar’s aides in a separate case, also died by suicide later, reportedly leaving behind accusations of corruption against Kumar and alleging pressure from the officer’s family.
