Sheila writes to PM, says police have failed to improve security

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to ensure better policing in Delhi. HT reports.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to ensure better policing in Delhi.

In a fresh attack on Delhi Police, she has complained to the PM that the force had failed to deliver on its promise to improve women's safety after the December 16 gang rape that sparked massive public outrage.

In a letter to the PM, Dikshit said that policing had remained unchanged in the city in the last two months though they had assured enhanced security for women following the gang rape.

She requested the PM to look into the issue seriously and take appropriate steps. Sources said that in the February 13 letter, Dikshit mentioned the functioning of the security commission that framed guidelines on maintaining law and order and suggested that its recommendations should be considered seriously.

Dikshit had severely criticised the police in the wake of the gang rape and even demanded the resignation of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar. She regretted not having any control over the functioning of the police that comes under the home ministry.

The union home ministry had last month made changes in the composition of the security commission, making the Delhi chief minister part of the panel set up in 2010 on the recommendations of the Justice KT Thomas committee on police reforms.

The sources said Dikshit has written a similar letter to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, asking him to take effective steps to improve policing in the city so that women feel secure.

In the letter, she referred to the massive public anger in the wake of the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student and said "nothing has changed even after the widespread public anger against the police."