Around 80 Delhi Police personnel gathered outside headquarters on Monday to protest the transfer of two officers. The transfers followed a scuffle at Shahdara police station on 23 October where a lawyer got injured. Protesters demanded a meeting with the commissioner, seeking the reinstatement of ACP Manasvi Vashistha and Inspector.
Around 80 personnel gather outside police headquarters seeking the reinstatement of ACP Manasvi Vashistha and Inspector Arun Kumar
Around 80 Delhi Police personnel staged a protest outside the force's headquarters on Monday, opposing the transfer of two officers following a scuffle at Shahdara police station in which a lawyer sustained a serious head injury.
The personnel assembled on the footpath outside Gate No. 1 of the Police Headquarters and demanded a meeting with the police commissioner to seek the restoration of the officers' previous postings.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma reached the spot and spoke to Assistant Commissioner of Police Manasvi Vashistha, one of the transferred officers, urging him not to participate in the protest.
Sharma reminded the personnel of the discipline expected of a police force and told them they should not behave like protesters. He also asked some of them to accompany him inside the headquarters, but none agreed.
The protesters demanded a Sampark Sabha with the police commissioner. No senior officer came out of the headquarters to address the gathering.
.Neha Bora calls BJP, Delhi Police's bluff; dares them to define 'breach of peace'. Vashistha, who was posted in the Gandhi Nagar subdivision, and Inspector Arun Kumar, the station house officer of Shahdara police station, were transferred after an incident on 23 October in which an advocate allegedly sustained a serious head injury during a scuffle at the police station.
The incident triggered an indefinite strike by district court lawyers, who demanded action against the officers concerned. The lawyers called off their strike on 28 October after the transfer orders were issued.
The transfers, however, led to discontent among a section of police personnel, who sought an opportunity to raise their concerns with the commissioner.
Messages circulated in Delhi Police WhatsApp groups had called on personnel to gather outside the headquarters on Monday in support of the transferred officers. District DCPs and unit heads had reportedly been asked to ensure their staff did not join the proposed protest.
The development comes a day before Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu's scheduled interaction with Delhi Police personnel, from constable to inspector rank, at Utsav Sadan, Kingsway Camp, on 3 November.