CM, LG in letter war over Delhi’s law and order

CM Arvind Kejriwal flagged an “alarming spurt” in serious crimes in the city. In response, LG VK Saxena insinuated that the AAP government was politicising crime

A letter war broke out between chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Tuesday over the national capital’s law and order, with the former flagging an “alarming spurt” in serious crimes and the latter, in response, insinuating that the city’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was politicising crime.

CM Arvind Kejriwal in the letter said that the LG and the Union home ministry are responsible for the upkeep of law and order in the Capital. (HT PHOTO)

Outlining a series of steps aimed at improving “residents’ confidence” in the city’s safety set-up, Kejriwal, in a letter dated June 19, urged Saxena to hold a meeting with the state cabinet, reinstate police-station level coordination committees, and add more personnel to the Capital’s police force.

“The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from the heart-rending fact that four murders have taken place during the last 24 hours in different parts of Delhi,” Kejriwal said in the letter, which he tweeted out on Tuesday.

Kejriwal also stressed that the LG and Union home ministry are responsible for the upkeep of law and order in the Capital.

Though he did not detail the four murders he mentioned in his letter, Kejriwal was ostensibly referring to a string of killings on Sunday — at RK Puram’s Ambedkar Basti, where two sisters were gunned down by a group of armed men, and outside Aryabhatta College in South Campus, where a Delhi University student was stabbed to death.

It was not immediately clear if there was a fourth murder in the 24-hour period Kejriwal was referring to.

Delhi Police have made arrests in both cases.

Saxena responded hours after Kejriwal’s tweet and said he shared the chief minister’s concerns, adding that controlling crimes in Delhi has been “on top” of his agenda since he took office last May.

“You may not be aware, since you and your colleagues often make public statements on the contrary, I have been reviewing and monitoring the Delhi Police on a regular basis. Bi-weekly meetings with the Commissioner of Police, weekly meetings with the Special CPs and periodic meetings aimed at direct interface with the DCPs is a regular part of my schedule,” the LG said.

Saxena also suggested that Kejriwal and his government were politicising crimes.

“I also take this opportunity to highlight that politicizing crime has almost become a habit these days and you would appreciate, while this provides no solution at all, it does subject the victim and their family to avoidable agony, apart from encouraging crime. In this regard, I am sure, that the issue of an unfortunate rape in 2012 raised by you to politically target the then chief minister, will serve as an eye opener and conscience knocker for you,” said Saxena, ostensibly referring to the December 2012 gang rape and murder.

Sunday’s killings set off pitched political battles in the Capital, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government hitting out at the LG and Centre over the city’s “worsening law and order” situation.

The BJP retaliated and said that Kejriwal’s letter was a ploy to “divert attention”.

“Kejriwal knows well that today, the media and the people of Delhi are asking him questions on the vigilance department notice to his close PWD officers over the bungalow irregularities and so to avoid those questions, the CM has floated this letter,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.