Haryana ASI commits suicide in Rohtak, names Puran Kumar in purported video and note
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Chandigarh (PTI): A Haryana Police assistant sub-inspector allegedly shot himself dead in Rohtak district on Tuesday, purportedly leaving behind a six-minute video and a three-page suicide note levelling corruption allegations against the late IPS officer Y Puran Kumar.
The veracity of the video and the statement could not be immediately verified.
Police sources said ASI Sandeep Kumar (42) played a role in the arrest of head constable Sushil Kumar, an aide of Puran Kumar who was an inspector general in Rohtak district and was found with a gunshot wound in his Chandigarh home last week.
The body of the ASI, who was posted in the cyber cell of the Rohtak district police office, was recovered from a makeshift room of his relative in the fields on the Ladhaut-Dhamar Road in Rohtak.
Sandeep Kumar allegedly committed suicide on the upper floor of the room that had been built for the motor of the tubewell servicing in his maternal uncle's fields.
After the incident, the family took the body to the house of a relative in the same village.
"We are trying to take a complaint from them (ASI's family) so that FIR can be lodged," a police official said, adding they were also trying to persuade the family to move the body to a mortuary.
Police are yet to comment officially on Sandeep Kumar's note or the video. "Sandeep shot himself," a senior police official from Rohtak said over the phone.
His alleged suicide comes against the backdrop of the escalating controversy over the death of IPS officer Puran Kumar, who purportedly left a note accusing eight officers, including DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, of "blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities".
While the government has sent DGP Shatrujeet Kapur on leave, Bijarniya was transferred last week and was replaced by S S Bhoria as Rohtak SP.
Meanwhile, Rohtak Police said they received information that ASI Sandeep Kumar had committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol.
"A suicide note was found near the body. Furthermore, a video was also recorded by Sandeep Kumar before his alleged suicide, which is being investigated by the police," an official said.
Talking to reporters at the site of the incident, Rohtak Superintendent of Police S S Bhoria said, "ASI Sandeep was a very hardworking and honest person in our department. We received information that a body had been found, after which we reached here."
Asked about the video and the note, he said, "To say anything at this stage is difficult... the forensic team is investigating."
In the video, Sandeep Kumar purportedly levelled serious allegations against Puran Kumar, saying even freedom fighter Bhagat Singh made sacrifices and walked a difficult path after which the country awakened.
"And today, this country will awaken when we sacrifice ourselves on the path of truth," he is purportedly heard as saying while claiming that "honest officer" Narendra Bijarniya had confronted Puran Kumar.
Sandeep, in the video and the alleged suicide note, also demanded that a "probe must be conducted", which will look into the assets of Y Puran Kumar and his family members.
Puran Kumar's name had cropped up in a bribery scandal recently.
A liquor contractor in Rohtak filed a bribery case against head constable Sushil Kumar. He alleged that Sushil Kumar sought a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh in Puran Kumar's name (when he was posted there).
Sushil Kumar was arrested recently.
Puran Kumar, 52, had recently been posted as inspector general, Police Training Centre (PTC), in Sunaria, Rohtak.
The Rohtak Police, meanwhile, said they stand with the ASI's family in this hour of grief and appealed to the public to maintain peace and law and order.
ASI Sandeep Kumar is survived by three children and five sisters, police sources said.
His relative Sheeshpal, who lives in Julana, said that Sandeep used to do a lot of work for society and was an active blood donor.
He was an honest officer, he said.
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Minister Patil chairs industry meetings to chart growth for key sectors in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Tuesday chaired meetings with industry representatives from the aerospace and defence, machine tools, auto/EV, and green energy sectors to discuss sector growth and government support measures.
The meetings were attended by leading industrialists and their representatives, with some participating virtually.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister for Large and Medium Industries said Karnataka is at the forefront of the country’s aerospace and defence sectors.
He noted that Suzuki and Toyota plan to launch aerial taxi services in Japan by 2028, with Bengaluru-based Sasmos supplying electrical equipment for the project.
Industrialists suggested introducing similar “fly-taxi” services in Karnataka through an appropriate policy, which Patil said would be examined seriously.
The minister highlighted the need to establish testing centres and Common Facility Centres for the aerospace and defence industries and assured that these facilities would be provided.
Suggestions were also made to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for sector growth.
Karnataka has urged the Central Government to approve Defence Corridor projects in the Bengaluru North–Kolar–Chikkaballapur and Dharawada–Vijayapura–Belagavi regions.
Industrialists also suggested a corridor between Bengaluru and Mysuru, Patil said.
He said Karnataka aims to become a hub for defence electronics manufacturing, with plans to establish a 200-acre Defence Electronics Park and a 100-acre Avionics and Sensor Park.
These projects will be implemented once the Special Investment Region is operational, and land availability will not be an issue.
On the machine tools sector, Patil said the industry has recorded an annual turnover of Rs 36,500 crore and is witnessing steady growth.
Large-scale exhibitions have increased demand, and the state must strengthen its capabilities to develop control systems for heavy machinery. One testing unit is already operational in Bengaluru, with another planned for Tumakuru. Expansion of vocational training institutes in industrial areas is also underway.
In the Auto and EV sector, Vision Group members highlighted the need for a network of dry ports and more EV charging stations across the state.
Patil noted that the Tata Group is manufacturing EV buses in Dharawada for nationwide supply. Plans for mini excavator production and export facilitation were also discussed, along with the establishment of a testing facility for two-wheeler EVs.
For the Green Energy sector, the group emphasised the need for a suitable policy on battery-based energy storage and the establishment of data centres.
Patil assured that the government will seriously consider all suggestions and respond positively.
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