Rahul Gandhi meets family of Haryana IPS officer Puran Kumar

Haryana police officer Y Puran Kumar's death is not about the respect of one family but all Dalits, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday while asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to act immediately in the case.

Addressing reporters after meeting the family of the senior police officer who was found with a gunshot wound in his Chandigarh home last week, Gandhi said there was systematic discrimination against Kumar to demoralise him and damage his career.

"A wrong message is being sent out to Dalits... that no matter how successful you are, if you are Dalit, you can be oppressed and crushed," the former Congress president said. He said the Haryana chief minister has not fulfilled his commitment of a free and fair inquiry.

Gandhi said there was a lot of pressure on Kumar's family, particularly his two daughters. His visit came amid stepped up attacks by the opposition against the Haryana government over Kumar's alleged suicide.

In an eight-page final note purportedly left behind by him, the 52-year-old accused eight senior IPS officers, including Haryana DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and now transferred Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, of "blatant caste-based discrimination, targeted mental harassment, public humiliation and atrocities".