AAP raises law and order issue; blames Centre, cops

The party also raked up the case of BJP leader and MLA Vijender Gupta’s wife being mugged on Monday to substantiate claims that the national Capital was increasingly becoming unsafe for women.

Continuing its criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Delhi police over the city’s law and order situation, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday blamed the Centre for ending ‘thana-level committees’ and the police for politicising the issue. The party also raked up the case of BJP leader and MLA Vijender Gupta’s wife being mugged on Monday to substantiate claims that the national Capital was increasingly becoming unsafe for women.

AAP leader Atishi said the seven BJP MPs in Delhi need to take responsibility. (ANI)

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said he was “happy” that Gupta’s wife was robbed “as it must have opened his eyes” about the prevailing law and order situation in Delhi. “It is a very traumatic incident for a woman when she is attacked. In fact I am happy that Vijender Gupta’s wife was robbed. Gupta has always advocated for the Delhi police whenever we complain about them,” he said.

Gupta, BJP MLA from Rohini, called Bhardwaj’s comment insensitive. “It only shows how twisted their thinking can be. Clearly, they are not serious about improving the city’s safety quotient,” he said.

The Delhi police said it has time and again issued advertisements and released radio jingles to alert people and make them aware about the tactics of miscreants such as the Thak-Thak gang, who divert attention of the person behind the wheel with the intention of stealing their belongings. “Delhi police has busted many such Thak-Thak Gangs in the recent past. In this particular case, an FIR has been registered and efforts are being made to nab the culprits,” said Madhur Verma, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi).

AAP leader Atishi said the seven BJP MPs in Delhi need to take responsibility. Bhardwaj, who is an MLA from Greater Kailash, said the BJP, since it came to power in 2014, has put an end to MLAs led thana-level committees, which used to ensure accountability of the police.

“Today only MPs conduct these district-level meetings to fix responsibility of the police, but who knows what’s going on there? The BJP has created a situation where the police has no accountability to local representatives,” he said.

He also alleged that the police could be manipulating crime statistics. “The Delhi police keep putting out statistics to support its stand on crime. But the fact is that the police which registers the cases and if they want to suppress the number of crimes reported, they simply choose not to register cases or register under less serious sections to bring down the number of serious crimes reported,” Bhardwaj said.

DCP Verma said the police have ensured maximum visibility on roads through integrated picket checking, foot patrolling, PCR vans and Raftaar bikes for effective crime prevention.

“These measures, supervised regularly by senior officers, have led to a downward trend in heinous crimes, crimes against women and senior citizens. These statistics are computerised and can’t be disputed,” Verma said.