SN Shrivastava is acting police chief, says restoring peace will be priority
Shrivastava said that cases of rioting, murder, attempt to murder, arson and attacking security personnel were being registered and culprits would be given harsh punishments
SN Shrivastava on Saturday became the acting chief of Delhi Police, replacing incumbent Amulya Patnaik, who handed over charge in a farewell ceremony at the new police headquarters.
A 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Shrivastava will start functioning as Delhi’s police commissioner from March 1 (Sunday), said an order passed by the Union home ministry.
After being handed over charge, Shrivastava briefed the media in the commissioner’s office and said his top priority would be restoring peace in the city and bringing back communal harmony. He appealed to everyone to support him in restoring peace in the city.
“Delhi has a tradition of communal harmony. People of every section and religion live together in harmony in this city and help each other in good as well as bad times. It is the duty of every citizen to work for the sake of the country. We have started a massive outreach programme where our officers meet people in their colony in an attempt to bring back communal harmony,” Shrivastava said.
On the communal riots in north-east Delhi, Shrivastava said that cases of rioting, murder, attempt to murder, arson and attacking security personnel were being registered and culprits would be given harsh punishments so that such incidents of violence were not repeated.
“We are making efforts to identify and arrest all those who were involved in the riots,” he added.
Shrivastava, who was recently appointed as the Special Commissioner (Law and Order) as Delhi Police struggled to contain communal violence in northeast Delhi, did not take any questions from the media.
Earlier in the day, outgoing commissioner Amulya Patnaik, at his farewell ceremony parade at Kingsway Camp, remembered head constable Ratan Lal, who was killed in the north-east Delhi riots earlier this week. Patnaik said that police personnel never hesitate to lay down their lives in the line of duty.
“I am deeply pained at constable Ratan Lal’s death. I pay tributes to him and wish for the speedy recovery of the injured policemen. Police personnel never hesitate to lay down their lives in the line of duty,” Patnaik said.
“During my long police service, I have seen the functioning of the police around the world. But, I have always been proud that the responsibility and efficiency of the Delhi Police is different and excellent,” he added.
Patnaik said that not only in the country but in the entire world, there is no police force that faces new challenges every day like the Delhi Police.
