Daily Briefing: Twist in Haryana IPS officer’s suicide case

On that note, let’s get to the top stories from today’s edition. 👇

• Rohtak ASI suicide case
• Rhyme and reason in Bihar
• Major setback to Maoist party

🚨 Big Story

An unexpected turn: In a fresh twist in the case of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar’s suicide, Rohtak ASI Sandeep Kumar was found dead with a gunshot wound, leaving behind a note accusing the IPS officer of corruption and calling for a probe into his family’s assets. The incident took place a day after the Haryana government sent Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur on leave. It had earlier transferred Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya following an uproar over the death of Y Puran Kumar. 

In focus: ASI Sandeep Kumar called Rohtak SP Narendra Bijarniya “honest and upright” in his final note. Who is Bijarniya, the 2015 batch IPS officer who was also named in the note left behind by Y Puran Kumar? Find out. 

A week separates the deaths of Rohtak ASI Sandeep Kumar and Haryana IGP Y Puran Kumar, but both cases share striking similarities. They left behind a final note, each died from a gunshot wound to the head and nobody witnessed either incident. Their point of contention? Y Puran Kumar’s eight-page note accused 9 IPS officers including DGP Shatrujeet Kapur and ROhtak SP Narendra Bijarniya, while Sandeep Kumar’s four-page handwritten note defended Kapur and Bijarniya and accused Puran Kumar of corruption.

End the tamasha’: There was a systemic effort over years to demoralise IPS officer Y Puran Kumar and damage his career and reputation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said while asking PM Modi and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini to get those responsible arrested and “end the tamasha (drama)” so that final rites could be performed. 

⚡Only in Express

Loosening purse strings: Bihar is witnessing a wave of pre-election sops as the NDA and Mahagathbandhan trade promises, from cash transfers to government jobs. Bihar’s 2025-26 budget of  Rs 3.17 crore already allocates more than a third to salaries and pensions, while total announced schemes could cost Rs 1.3 lakh crore. This leaves just a third of the budget for Bihar to spend on other things. 

Rhyme and reason:In Bihar, pre-poll seat sharing tensions find release in poetry across party lines. RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha quoted 17th-century poet Rahim on X, warning that “love once broken can’t be fixed, only become knotted,” Jha’s post came amidst continuing scrimmage in the Mahagathbandhan over a seat-sharing deal. Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, spokesperson Ragini Nayak, and leader Srinivas B V responded with lines from poets Abbas Tabish and Amir Khusro. Even NDA’s smaller allies joined the thread. As the saying goes, when things are bad, they can always get ‘verse’.

📰 From the Front Page

A long chapter closed: The Maoist movement suffered one of its most severe blows on Tuesday when Mallojula Venugopal Rao alias Sonu (70), a member of the CPI (Maoist)’s Politburo as well as its Central Military Commission, surrendered in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli alongside 60 other cadres. His surrender comes months before the March 2026 deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to wipe out Naxalism from the country. Sonu was the ideological head of the party, a communication specialist, and the thread that connected it to the world outside the forests of Chhattisgarh, with his surrender marking the closure of a long chapter in Maoist history.

India’s efforts in Gaza:As the Israel-Gaza peace deal comes into effect, India is looking to send relief material as humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza in the coming days, besides considering contributing to the rebuilding of the devastated city. The Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh representing the country at the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit on Gaza, said that the peace efforts were “in line with India’s long standing support for a negotiated two-State solution. India will support all efforts towards a lasting peace in the region.”

Sleepless nights: Less than three days ahead of the end of deadline to file nominations for 121 seats in the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, both the NDA and Mahagathbandhan are struggling to end the tussle for seats within. RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav is frantically summoning back leaders who were given party symbols hours earlier by father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad (essentially promising tickets to them); whereas JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar is slamming party colleagues for “concessions” made to the Lok Janshakti Party (RV) on seats.

📌 Must Read

In our Opinion section today, Najeeb Jung refers to the predicament in Ladakh “a cautionary tale of governing without representation,” urging Centre to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation. Jung writes: “The people of Ladakh are not insurgents, and meeting them halfway is not weakness; it’s statesmanship. In the icy barrenness of the high altitude area, where our soldiers fight and protect us among the harshest conditions that humans can endure, the idea of India is being tested once again. A calm here will reaffirm the spirit of the Republic.”

Twinning: A new study has found that while the twin birth rate is expected to fall by about 10.5% by 2100 in India, the country will remain home to one of the world’s largest populations of twins. This has profound public health and demographic significance. The study highlights the need for greater attention in the future to support healthy outcomes for twin pregnancies and families with twins. Here’s why studying twinning rate is important.

For pedestrian safety: The Supreme Court last week issued a set of directions aimed at protecting pedestrians, enforcing helmet rules, curbing wrong lane driving and regulating dazzling LED headlights and unauthorised hooters in India. Highlighting that free footpaths are vital for pedestrian movement, the court directed the road owning agencies and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to start the audit of existing footpaths in top 50 cities having millions plus population.

⏳ And Finally…

According to the results of the much-delayed Synchronous All India Elephant Estimation (SAIEE) 2021–25, released on Tuesday, India’s Asian elephant population is estimated to be 22,446. Compared to the last all-India estimate in 2017 (27,312), the population is lower by 4,065 elephants, or 17.81%. However, the report noted a caveat that the two figures are not directly comparable due to a change in methodology, and said the latest estimate should be treated as a “new baseline.”

Lastly, tune in to the latest episode of our 3 Things podcast, where we discuss NDA’s seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Bihar polls; Karnataka Menstrual Leave Policy 2025; and Google’s biggest-ever investment in India. 

That’s all for today. Have a wonderful day ahead!

Until next time,

Ariba and Malavika Jayadeep

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