Rakesh Asthana takes charge as Delhi police commissioner

In his first media briefing, Asthana said he believed in the basic concept of policing that includes maintaining law and order and preventing crime for establishing peace in society.

Rakesh Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Gujarat cadre, on Wednesday took charge as the Delhi Police commissioner at the force’s headquarters on Jai Singh Road. Asthana replaced Balaji Srivastava, who was given the additional charge of the police commissioner after the retirement of SN Shrivastava 27 days ago.

Newly-appointed Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana receives a guard of honor at Delhi Police headquarters, New Delhi. (ANI Photo)

In his first media briefing, Asthana said he believed in the basic concept of policing that includes maintaining law and order and preventing crime for establishing peace in society.

“I have taken charge as the Delhi Police commissioner today (Wednesday). I believe in the basic concept of policing, that is, maintenance of law and order, prevention of crime. That is the basic thing which we are supposed to do. If these things are done properly, peace prevails in society. There are certain specialised problems, for which there are separate standard operating procedures (SOPs). We will work accordingly,” said Asthana soon after he took over from Srivastava at the commissioner’s office.

Asthana’s appointment was announced late Tuesday evening, four days before his retirement as the director general of the Border Security Force (BSF). His inter-cadre deputation from the Gujarat cadre to the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre and extension of his service by one year was also announced on Tuesday.

Escorted by two police vehicles, Asthana reached the Delhi Police headquarters at 1.45pm in a white sedan, the official police commissioner’s vehicle, and was greeted with a bouquet of flowers by Srivastava at the main reception area, where the police’s top officers and mediapersons were present. Ashtana was accorded the ceremonial guard of honour, after which he entered the headquarters building, flanked by all special commissioners of police.

While other special commissioners left for the commissioner’s meeting hall named ‘Vimarsh’, Srivastava, and two special CPs Sundri Nanda and Praveer Ranjan, accompanied Asthana to the commissioner’s office where he took over charge.

Asthana then briefed the media during which he also praised the Delhi Police for its “brilliant past and performance in handling complicated cases and situations”. He said he hopes to work in tandem with everyone to ensure the betterment of society.

“Delhi Police has a brilliant past. A lot of good work has been done by the city police in the past. A lot of complicated cases have been solved. A lot of complicated situations have been handled by the Delhi Police. I believe in team work and I hope that with this team work, we will be able to put the best foot forward for the betterment of society and prevalence of peace,” he said.

Before taking the charge as Delhi Police commissioner, Asthana was the director general of BSF and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He has earlier worked as the special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During his stint in the CBI, he was engaged in an unsavoury spat with then CBI director Alok Verma with both of them levelling allegations of corruption against each other. In Gujarat, he has served as commissioner of police in Surat and Vadodara.

Asthana graduated and did his post-graduation from St John’s College, Agra, the police said in a statement.

In another development on Wednesday, Praveer Ranjan, a 1993 batch IPS officer who was heading the Delhi Police’s crime branch as a special commissioner, was appointed the director general of police (DGP) Chandigarh. Ranjan will replace 1989 batch IPS officer Sanjay Bainiwal.