By Tannistha Dey
Two months after being put on leave over a controversy in connection with the death of IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar, the Haryana government has relieved senior IPS officer Shatrujeet Kapur of the charge of Director General of Police, or DGP, an official order stated on Monday.
O.P. Singh, who was handling additional charges of State police chief in Kapur’s absence, will now be officiating as DGP until further notice. O.P. Singh, a 1992 batch IPS officer, will hold this post temporarily until a permanent police head is appointed in the State.
The names of senior IPS officers are expected to be shortlisted by the Haryana government and sent to the Union Public Service Commission in the coming days in order to finalise a new full-time Director General of Police. The need for this arose due to the fact that Singh will be retiring on December 31 this year.
Kapur, a 1990 batch IPS officer, will, however, continue to hold the additional charge of Chairman, Haryana Police Housing Corporation, Panchkula, as per the order. The engineering graduate was appointed as the State police chief in August 2023 when the State police were handling various law and order situations.
On October 14th, Kapur took leave in light of increasing criticism from opposition parties and social organisations with regard to the death of IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar. During this time, Singh was given additional charge of DGP to maintain continuity in the operations of the State police organisation.
Kumar, a 2001 IPS officer, aged 52 years, was found dead in his residence on October 7. Through an eight-page writing allegedly left by him, Kumar had levelled serious charges of ‘blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation, and atrocities’ against a number of senior officers, including Kapur.
This sparked calls from opposition parties for a neutral investigation and for taking responsibility within the upper echelons of the police administration. Under increasing pressure, the state government in Haryana initially transferred Rohtak police chief Narendra Bijarniya and soon sent Kapur on leave until further notice. Kumar’s wife, IAS officer Amneet P. Kumar, refused to give her consent for a post-mortem test initially. Recently, she relented a week after her death, after being assured by Chandigarh police that an investigation would be conducted in a transparent manner, and her government promised to punish any official found guilty in the investigation.