JOIN US Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde has asked his ministry to conduct an internal inquiry on lapses, if any, on the part of Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar in handling law and order situation in the capital. The force had come under severe criticism since the rape of a girl child and attacks on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and even on his own secured house.
A visibly upset Shinde, himself a police inspector before he plunged into politics, has asked the ministry to go through the reports of special secretary Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, who probed the physical attacks on Mamata and his own house in the VVIP area of city.
The ministry has also been asked to look into the role of Neeraj Kumar to ascertain if there is any supervisory lapse on his or other senior officers so that responsibility could be fixed.
Kumar had gone to Shinde’s office in North Block on Monday. He, however, returned after spending some time in the minister’s office. When asked, Kumar said, “I had gone to discuss Parliament questions”.
Ministry sources hinted that Shinde is perhaps looking at some material evidence so that he could crack the whip on Delhi Police top brass as the heat on policing lapses are coming directly on him from within the UPA government, which is battling controversies every day.
It is learnt that Ganai in his findings has pointed fingers only at junior officers, which is at the level of inspectors and below, making it difficult to take punitive action against the top brass, including of supervisory lapses.
The ‘helpless’ minister is believed to be unable to garner enough support from a section of his own top babus, which are of the view that the response to crimes by Delhi Police is adequate, barring aberrations of investigators trying to bribe a rape victim’s family, for which action has already been initiated.
Sources close to the minister said that Shinde believes that the file relating to law and order mishandling is intentionally being delayed so that the commissioner retires in July without facing the wrath.
Earlier, Shinde had not completely ruled out the possibility of axing the top cop.