New Delhi, November 26, 2025
CHANDIGARH — The gunshot that ended the life of Y. Puran Kumar, a 52-year-old Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Haryana's Rohtak district, on October 7, 2025, echoed far beyond the basement of his family home in Chandigarh. In an eight-page suicide note clutched in his pocket, the 2001-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer laid bare a harrowing tale of caste-based persecution that had eroded his spirit over years of service. Kumar, a proud Dalit who drew inspiration from B.R. Ambedkar, accused 10 senior and retired officers—including Haryana's Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Bijarniya—of "blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation, and atrocities." His death, just weeks ago, has not only triggered political fury and protests but also thrust India's deeply entrenched caste system into the spotlight, exposing how even the nation's most accomplished Scheduled Caste (SC) professionals remain vulnerable to systemic bias.
Kumar's final words painted a picture of institutional sabotage that began as early as August 2020. He alleged that during a temple visit to an Ambala police station under then-DGP Manoj Yadava, he was publicly humiliated for his caste. The harassment escalated: his official vehicle was withdrawn in November 2023, housing entitlements were denied, and anonymous complaints were filed to smear his reputation. Promotions were stalled, arrears delayed, and he was shunted to "non-existent" postings, all while his pleas for equity fell on deaf ears. One particularly cruel episode involved a retired IAS officer, Rajeev Arora, denying him leave to attend his father's last rites, forcing Kumar to cremate him virtually from Japan amid a state delegation. "These officers are responsible for compelling me to take this extreme step," he wrote, invoking the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, in a desperate bid for accountability.
His wife, Amneet P. Kumar, a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, discovered the body alongside their two daughters. In a voice trembling with grief and resolve, she described the note as a "document of broken spirit," born of "systematic persecution" due to his SC background. "Justice should not merely be done, but seen to be done—even for families like ours, shattered by the cruelty of the powerful," she said in a complaint filed with Chandigarh Police, which led to an FIR under abetment to suicide charges and enhanced sections of the Atrocities Act. The family initially withheld postmortem consent, demanding arrests of the accused, but relented on October 16 after assurances of a fair probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The tragedy deepened with a second suicide just three days later. Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sandeep Lather, who had arrested Kumar's personal security officer in an extortion case, was found dead in Rohtak's Ladoth village on October 10, leaving a four-page note and a six-minute video. Lather alleged corruption by Kumar during his Rohtak tenure and praised DGP Kapur and SP Bijarniya as "honest," countering the caste narrative with claims of misconduct. His death sparked an FIR for abetment against Amneet, her brother (AAP MLA Amit Rattan), and others, muddying the waters and fueling accusations of a cover-up to shield the powerful.
Haryana's BJP-led government moved swiftly amid mounting pressure: SP Bijarniya was transferred on October 11, DGP Kapur placed on leave on October 14 (with Om Prakash Singh taking additional charge), and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini visited the family, vowing justice. Yet, opposition voices roared in condemnation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who met the family in Chandigarh, decried the incident as a "wrong message to Dalits," warning that no matter how capable, a Dalit officer can be "crushed and thrown away." Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers led candlelight marches across Punjab, with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh thundering, "His only crime was being Dalit." Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad joined protests in Rohtak, demanding a judicial inquiry into police-criminal nexuses. On social media platform X, users like @bibek78822 questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BSP chief Mayawati, asking why they hadn't visited the family or pushed for a CBI probe.
Kumar's story is not isolated but symptomatic of a caste conundrum that persists in India's corridors of power. Dalits, comprising about 17% of the population and historically branded "untouchables," face barriers that reservations at entry-level recruitment—mandating 15% quota for SCs in civil services—cannot fully dismantle. Data reveals a stark "glass ceiling": only 4.8% of secretary-level posts and 13% of director-level roles in the bureaucracy are held by SC/ST officers, despite quotas. Between 2017 and 2022, SCs filled just 7.7% of new IAS and 3.8% of IPS positions, with promotions lagging far behind. Experts like Dr. V.A. Ramesh Nathan attribute this to weak enforcement of anti-atrocity laws and a lack of political will, allowing "psychological harassment" to drive Dalits to despair. Theologian Dr. Anderson Jeremiah notes that such prejudice resists Ambedkar's vision of equality, while activist Beena J. Pallical laments the impunity enjoyed by high-ranking perpetrators.
As the SIT's investigation unfolds, Kumar's family fights on in court, seeking punishment for the accused and dignity for his legacy. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema called it a "national shame," a sentiment echoed by Dalit leader Chirag Paswan, who warned that without justice, SC families might discourage children from aspiring to IAS or IPS roles. In a nation that prides itself on democratic strides, Puran Kumar's suicide compels a reckoning: Can India's elite institutions truly transcend the shadows of caste, or will they continue to claim lives in silence?
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