KARNAL: Haryana Police have booked Panipat superintendent of police Manisha Choudhary and two other cops for allegedly abetting the suicide of former councillor and BJP leader Harish Sharma.
Harish had jumped into a canal on Thursday morning and his body was fished out of Delhi Parallel canal near Khubru village in Sonipat district on Sunday.
In the police complaint, the family members claimed that Harish was under depression for the past few days after Panipat police had booked him, his daughter and eight others for allegedly selling crackers and assaulting cops on Diwali night.
His daughter Anjali Sharma, a councillor, alleged that police were mounting pressure for his arrest, due to which he took the extreme step.
On Sunday, the family member and supporters of the ex-councillor had blocked National Highway-44 by placing the body on the road and had refused to cremate him until a case was lodged against the cops.
Sources said they had lifted the blockade around 8pm after getting an assurance from chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar over the phone.
On Monday, a case under Sections 306 (Abetment to suicide) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the Panipat SP, sub-inspector Baljeet and ASI Mahavir Singh at Model Town police station in Panipat.
Talking to PTI, Haryana DGP Manoj Yadava said, “We have registered an FIR on the complaint given by the daughter of the former councillor, in which she alleged that two officers of the Panipat police, along with the SP, were harassing her father,” the DGP said.
A committee headed by ADGP Sandeep Khirwar is investigating the matter. The other two cops — sub-inspector Baljeet and ASI Mahavir Singh — have already been suspended in the case.
Meanwhile, Haryana Police is likely to drop the case against Harish Sharma, his daughter and eight others. Sources said the government had also assured a job for the kin of the deceased and an impartial probe into the case of abetment of suicide registered against cops, who had conducted raids in the tehsil camp area.
Hooda attacks Khattar govt On Monday, a large number of people attended the cremation of Sharma in Panipat.
Leader of the opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda met the bereaved family and offered his condolences. Hooda said appropriate action should be taken against whoever is found guilty.
Hooda said the death of Harish is an example of where the state is headed to.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had hit out at the Haryana government over the incident, saying Sharma was “forced to take the extreme step due to the alleged harassment by the state authorities.”
With inputs from PTI