Chandigarh: The family of Dalit Indian Police Service officer Y. Puran Kumar, who died by alleged suicide on October 7, have withheld permission for a post-mortem of his body, putting the Haryana government and Chandigarh Union territory administration in a tight spot.The 2001-batch officer also held the rank of Additional Director General of Police. In his purported suicide note, he had alleged sustained caste-based discrimination, harassment and public humiliation by his superiors.Earlier this morning, there were reports that the family had agreed to a post mortem. Later, Chandigarh director general of police Sagar Preet Hooda told reporters that the post-mortem will only be performed with the consent of the family. “This is all I can share at the moment,” Hooda added.Chandigarh police today shifted the mortal remains of the deceased from the mortuary of Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Sector 12 at around 8 am. However, the family said that this shift had happened without their knowledge.Chandigarh senior superintendent of police Kanwardeep Kaur just told the media, “We are standing outside the mortuary of PGIMER. The postmortem will be conducted only after the family’s consent. A message from the family is still awaited. Doctors and the entire team are present here, but without family consent, no procedure can be carried out, and legally it is not possible.”The family — including his wife, Indian Administrative Service officer Amneet P. Kumar — continues to demand the removal of the state director general of police and the Rohtak superintendent before agreeing to the post-mortem and cremation.In her complaint submitted to Chandigarh police on October 8, Amneet Kumar had said that a conspiracy by Shatrujeet Kapur (Haryana DGP) and Narendra Bijarniya (Rohtak SP) had led to her husband’s death by suicide.Haryana minister Krishan Lal Panwar as well as senior officers visited the family on October 10 to urge them to allow the post-mortem of the deceased officer, citing the fact that the family’s demand for an FIR against the officers named in Kumar’s suicide note had been met.Another state minister Mahipal Dhanda also told reporters that the government was treating the matter with utmost sensitivity and seriousness. On the evening of October 10, Chandigarh police formed a special investigation team (SIT) to fast track the probe under the supervision of Chandigarh inspector general of police, Pushpendra Kumar.The team included SSP (Union territory) Kanwardeep Kaur, superintendent of police (city) K.M. Priyanka, deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Charanjit Singh Virk, sub-divisional police officer (south) Gurjit Kaur, and station house officer of police station 11, inspector Jaiveer Singh Rana.Kumar’s family has been unconvinced and have raised questions on the FIR registered in this case. In an October 10 letter to Chandigarh SSP, Amneet P. Kumar had written that the names of the accused persons including Haryana DGP and Rohtak SP were not clearly mentioned, and the FIR lacked the necessary details required for a fair and transparent investigation.The FIR lodged by the Chandigarh Police considered the suicide note of the deceased IPS officer as a base and stated that everyone named in the suicide note was being made an accused. The suicide note had named 11 senior IPS officers, including two retired officials, besides one IAS officer.Amneet P. Kumar stated in her letter that as per the prescribed FIR format, the names of all accused should be clearly listed under Column No. 7 – and highlighted that this had not been followed in this FIR.She had also pointed out that the sections mentioned under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the FIR were diluted.“The appropriate section applicable in this case – Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – must have been added accordingly to ensure the correct legal provisions are applied,” she had added.BJP’s Bihar ally in supportBJP’s Bihar ally and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, meanwhile, demanded a time-bound, impartial probe into the death, asserting that no one, irrespective of their position or influence, should be spared.Paswan said the incident reflects the “continuing caste oppression” deeply rooted within the administrative system. “It is spread in the system like poison,” he wrote in a letter to Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, urging him to ensure justice and accountability.Paswan also spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah regarding the matter and sought the Union government’s intervention for a fair investigation.Additionally, Paswan telephoned the officer’s wife to express condolences and assure her of his full support.The Congress party has claimed that crimes against Dalits and other weaker sections are on the rise under the BJP government.Citing the latest NCRB report, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post that between 2013 and 2023, there has been a 46% increase in crimes against Dalits and that crimes against Adivasis rose by 91% during the period.He also wrote that caste discrimination against the IPS officer in Haryana, the lynching of the Dalit man Hariom Valmiki, the attack on the Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and the BJP’s attempt to justify it, and the atrocity against Dalit elderly woman Kamla Devi Raigar in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district are not isolated incidents, but a dangerous manifestation of the feudal mindset of the RSS-BJP.This pattern is a direct assault on the Constitution of India, and on the core principles of social justice and equality. This politics of intimidation and suppression of Dalits, backward classes, Adivasis, and the marginalised poses a serious threat to democracy. India will be governed by its Constitution – not by the dictats of any extremist ideology, he also wrote.Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala who met the family today, October 11, told the media outside their residence that the entire nation is now demanding justice. Whatever the family wanted to say was already given in writing, he added.Meanwhile, Kishor Makwana, chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), also visited Kumar’s residence, met his family members and assured full support.