Highlight
- Senior Vice Minister Dushyant Chautala supported the police
- Sources said Anil Vij summoned state police chief Manoj Gupta on Monday.
- The police chief was reprimanded for inaction in the matter.
Chandigarh:
A police case has been brought against a senior Haryana Panipat police officer, Manisha Choudhary, for allegedly instigating the suicide of a senior BJP leader and former city councilor, Harish Sharma. The issue took on political overtones when the chief deputy minister supported the police officer, who was booked after state Interior Minister Anil Vij ordered the action.
Sources said Vij had summoned the chief of state police Manoj Gupta on Monday and reprimanded him for inaction.
However, Senior Deputy Minister Dushyant Chautala supported Manisha Chaudhary and raised questions about the First Information Report against her.
“If an SP (Superintendent of Police) can be registered in this way, then a case must be registered against the DGP (Director General of Police) for any crime in the state,” Chautala said Monday while addressing the media in Sirsa.
The 52-year-old councilman allegedly jumped on a channel on November 19 after his family said it was harassment by the police. His body was found Sunday. A friend who tried to save him had also drowned.
The problem had started during a police campaign to enforce the local crackers ban before Diwali. The former Tehsil Camp councilor, whose daughter now holds the post, had supported the people and a heated verbal exchange with the police on Diwali night.
Later, a case was brought against him, his daughter Anjali Sharma and eight others under 11 sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The family said the matter had affected him greatly. On Thursday, Harish Sharma, who was staying with his friend, called his brother and announced his intention to end his life.
“My father was upset with the police because they treated him like a terrorist. After registering the FIR, the police threatened him, which led to this suicide,” Anjali Sharma told reporters last week after the incident.
Ms. Chaudhary, an IPS officer from the 2011 group, is the Police Superintendent at Panipat Manisha. She would join as Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) in Chandigarh, the city’s first female officer in that role. But his incorporation has been delayed due to the case against him.
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