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Chandigarh: The deadlock over the postmortem and final rites of Haryana Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Y. Puran Kumar deepened on Monday, with the bereaved family refusing to relent on their core demand—the arrest of senior officers named in the FIR registered after the officer’s death.
The late officer’s widow, IAS officer Amneet P. Kumar, rejected all overtures from visiting BJP leaders and categorically refused to hand over her husband’s laptop to the Chandigarh Police, which is probing the case.
Kumar, a 2001-batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, was found dead with a gunshot wound at his Sector 11 residence in Chandigarh on October 7. His death, described as suicide by police, has triggered a storm of outrage within administrative and social circles, with allegations of caste-based harassment and professional humiliation surfacing through an eight-page suicide note purportedly written by the officer.
As the standoff entered its second week, Kumar’s body continued to lie at the Advanced Autopsy Centre of PGIMER, where it was shifted from GMSH-16 on Saturday following the family’s objections to the earlier venue. However, the postmortem remains stalled amid growing public anger and repeated appeals from the police to proceed with the legal formalities.
Family Refuses Postmortem Until Arrests Made
The family has made it clear that there will be no postmortem or cremation until their demands are met. Specifically, the arrest of Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur, suspended Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, and other officers named in the FIR registered under abetment to suicide and related sections. A visibly anguished Amneet Kumar confronted visiting political leaders at her residence in Sector 11 on Monday, expressing deep distrust in the government’s intentions. Flanked by her brother and Punjab AAP MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta, she vented her grief and anger in front of mediapersons. “What have you done so far? What do you want to say now? We don’t want anything from you. What did you do to my husband? If the government wants, it may take his body as well,” she said in an emotional outburst, refusing to meet BJP ministers who had sought an audience.
Laptop Becomes Key Flashpoint
The officer’s official laptop has become the latest point of contention in the investigation. The Chandigarh Police has sought access to it to retrieve digital evidence, including the timeline and metadata of the alleged “final note” emailed by Kumar shortly before his death. The note, sources said, forms the backbone of the FIR registered on October 9 at the Sector 11 police station, in which the officer named several senior colleagues, accusing them of persistent caste-based harassment and mental torture.
However, the family has categorically refused to hand over the device, citing a lack of trust in the police handling of the case and demanding that a court-appointed or independent forensic agency be authorised to examine it instead.
Police officials, meanwhile, have expressed concern that the continued standoff is hindering key forensic procedures. “Crucial indicators like gunpowder residue, ballistic imprints, and biological markers are time-sensitive and could degrade with delay, potentially weakening the evidentiary value,” a senior investigating officer said, requesting anonymity. The growing deadlock has placed both the Haryana Government and the Chandigarh Police under mounting scrutiny. Several political leaders across party lines have already visited the bereaved family, expressing solidarity and demanding an impartial judicial inquiry.