New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Tuesday termed the national capital’s police administration, especially at the district level as “tainted”.
“…I would be failing in my duties if I simultaneously do not red flag that our police administration, especially at the District level, is tainted, more than any other arm of civil administration,” he said in his address at the DCPs Conference here.
Referring to the recent Kanjhawla hit-and-drag accident, the Shraddha Walkar murder case and the stabbing incident in which ASI Shambhu Dayal Meena was killed, the LG said these cases exhibit a “glaring lacuna” in policing at the field level and urged the DCPs to rectify it with immediate effect.
The Delhi Police had received much flak for the Kanjhawala accident case where a 20-year-old woman in the night of the new year was hit by a car, and dragged on the road underneath the same vehicle for around 90 minutes at a stretch of around 10-12 Km. She was found lying naked and mutilated on a road.
Saxena even referred to the rising figures of crime in Delhi through NCRB data that shows that Delhi stands at 3rd place in terms of cases of violent crime per lakh population. “It is second across the country in terms of crime against women, despite the fact that we have police strength of about 81,000 available in Delhi,” he said.
He also drew the attention of the Delhi Police officials towards the aspect of investigation. “Loopholes that lead to undue acquittals, charge sheets that are insufficient and lack merit, and investigations that stretch for years together are a cause of great concern. They not only weaken public confidence in the police but also pose a challenge to the very dictum of rule of law,” he said.
Saxena said that he has seen a plethora of applications where even for cognisable offences, the FIR is delayed or not registered in many cases and called for an end to this practice.
The LG asked the officers to be visible and present on the roads and the streets on a 24x7x365 basis. “While this helps prevent crime by deterring criminals on one hand, it also helps generate confidence amongst people.. I must say that any laxity in this regard proves to be catastrophic, as the recent unfortunate incident in Kanjhawala showed, and will not be tolerated,” he said.
–IANS
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