Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and is believed to have pressed for removal of beleaguered Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar. “Dikshit has insisted on action at the top-level of Delhi Police. She conveyed her unhappiness to Shinde over the law and order situation in the city,” top sources told PTI.
Dikshit has been critical of functioning of the police following the December 16 gang-rape incident. She had demanded resignation of Kumar and action against other senior officials. The sources said Dikshit has told Shinde that situation remained unchanged as no visible improvement in policing has been witnessed in the city in the last four months despite police assuring enhanced security for women following the gang-rape incident.
Dikshit is also understood to have raised the issue of rape of a five-year-old girl and police insensitivity in handling the case. There are reports that Kumar may be shifted out of the key post and Special Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi may be asked to take charge as new Delhi Police chief.
A reshuffle was also effected in Delhi Police today among its middle-level officers.
Speculation is rife over the fate of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar in the wake of recent rape of a five-year-old girl and police insensitivity in handling it. There are reports that Kumar may be shifted out of the key post and Special Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi may be asked to take charge as new Delhi Police chief.
Home Ministry sources said Kumar, a 1976 batch IPS officer, who faced widespread criticism over the handling of December 16 gang rape of a girl in a moving bus and its fallout, may be transferred to the Bureau of Police Research and Development or asked to go on leave. Kumar is due to retire in July.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is said to be unhappy with Delhi Police’s handling of rape of the five-year-old girl, manhandling of West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra as well as the storming of his house by protesters recently.
Interestingly, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is critical of the Delhi Police over the handling of public protests over the December 16 gangrape of a girl, and Bassi, a 1977 batch IPS officer, met the Home Minister separately.
When contacted about the speculation about the Delhi Police Commissioner, Shinde said “so far no decision has been taken”. Sources said Shinde wants to effect a reshuffle in the Home Ministry in the level of Joint Secretary and the Additional Secretary as well as in the Delhi Police, which directly reports to him.
He had already got a new Home Secretary (Anil Goswami) appointed more than two months before the incumbent R K Singh demits the office. Goswami, who joined today as Officer on Special Duty, started attending key meetings with the Home Minister. A reshuffle was also effected in Delhi Police today among its middle-level officers assigning new jobs to them.
Delhi police chief faces SC ire
The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar for delay in action in the rape and brutalization of a five-year-old in the national capital. The apex court directed Neeraj Kumar to file his reply in the matter within a week.
A five-year-old girl was gangraped and brutalized in New Delhi by two men from Bihar – Manoj Kumar and Pradip – who were later arrested. The girl was kidnapped on April 16 while she was playing outside her home, and was kept captive in the basement of the same building where she lived.
She was rescued as neighbours heard her cries after being kidnapped, tied to a bed, starved, gangraped and brutally violated with pieces of a candle and a bottle for two days. The family of the victim allegedly faced harassment by the police when they tried filing a complaint and one officer even offered a Rs 2,000 bribe to not take the incident public.
Later, three police officers, including Assistant Commissioner of Police Bani Singh Ahlawat, were suspended for slapping a protester and misbehaving with the father of the victim. Neeraj Kumar came under heavy criticism for failing to maintain the law and order situation in the national capital. Amid growing demand for his removal, Neeraj Kumar maintained that he will not resign over the incident.
Mid-level reshuffle in Delhi Police
The deputy commissioner of police of east Delhi, where the rape of a five-year-old girl took place, was transferred Monday during a mid-level reshuffle in Delhi Police, an official said. Prabhakar, a 2003-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer has been transferred as DCP in the prime minister’s security, two days after a vigilance report submitted to the Delhi Police commissioner exposed lapses by the local police in the probe of the rape-case of the five-year-old girl.
He has been replaced by 2001-batch IPS officer, Ajay Kumar, a statement from the lt. governor’s office said. South district’s DCP Chhaya Sharma and DCP (Headquarter) Vivek Kishore have been transferred to Mizoram. Both are 1999-batch IPS officers of the Union Territory (UT) cadre.
Sharma has been replaced by 2001-batch IPS officer, B.S. Jaiswal, who was DCP (outer). Sharma was heading south district, where a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped in a moving bus Dec 16. A 1998-batch IPS officer Sanjay Kumar has been posted as additional commissioner of police (outer). He was earlier an additional commissioner of police in the prime minister’s security.
The vigilance report has confirmed that a local police officer had tried to bribe the family of a five-year-old rape victim with Rs.2,000 to hush up the incident. The report given to Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar Saturday hinted at several lapses on the part of Gandhi Nagar police station chief Dharampal Singh.(Sify)
