25 May,2011 07:51 AM IST | | Mohit Sharma
After BK Gupta rebuked some of his men posted near the Chinese embassy for perceived incompetence, the personnel reported the matter to PCR, failing to recognise the top cop who was in plain clothes
It was an incident that, by his own admission, had left Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta a little perplexed. On Sunday night, Gupta was on his way to the government officer's mess at Civil Lines to attend a party thrown by his colleagues who were recently promoted as special commissioners of police. He observed some security men deputed at a PCR van (which is stationed round-the-clock) outside the Chinese embassy in Chanakyapuri and some barricades that had not been positioned properly, which was causing a traffic jam. "Gupta then got off his car and marched towards the site," a source said. The top cop was not in his uniform at that time.
Dead stop: Cops stand guard at Shanti Path in Chanakyapuri. File pic
'Shape up'
According to sources, Gupta went up to the cops and asked them to make a few changes. "Bizarrely the security men in the PCR, who were new recruits, failed to identify their boss. Gupta told them that they were not fit enough to be posted at such a sensitive location and that they should be deputed in battalions," they said. After Gupta left, asking them to perform their duties properly, the inexperienced PCR men did something that has left the top cop flummoxed. "Trying to be a bit too clever, they flashed the message on PCR saying that apparently an officer had come and told them that they should be deputed with the battalion and not at that particular site," the sources added.
File pic
Fair warning
When the CP came to know about this he immediately called the deputy commissioner of police, PCR to remove the personnel from that area and asked them to meet him in his office on Monday. When contacted by MiD DAY, Gupta confirmed the incident and said, "They are new recruits and now I have ordered that they should be transferred to police stations first for more experience and only then should they be sent to important installations like the Chinese embassy." Gupta said that one of the cops was given a written warning and let off. He also pulled up a few police officers of New Delhi district who were stationed at a police picket in the night at Shanti Path.
Chanakyapuri if one of the most high-profile areas of the Capital and the Chinese embassy is just a stone's throw away from the US embassy which has been put on red alert since the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Also, the Chinese embassy usually has a heavy police presence due to general threats and incidents of Tibetans storming the building in the past.
What Gupta told MiD DAY
When contacted, the commissioner of police said that he did an internal inquiry into the incident and found that the fault lies with the district. "There was barricading on Shanti Path which should have not been there as it is a busy road and the move is illogical. There were both PCR and local policemen and a few of them were new recruits," Gupta said. Gupta also said that he has now ordered for all new recruits (who were got on board during the Commonwealth Games last year) to be transferred to police stations first in the districts to learn the nuances of policing and then they could be back serving at important installations.
Guarded response
Apart from New Delhi district, after the Osama incident the Diplomatic Security Force, DSF, was also asked to beef up security around the embassy area. "We have received instructions to be vigilant in these areas to ensure safety of this area and more force keeps pouring in from paramilitary and Delhi Armed Police to guard the area," sources in DSF said.u00a0u00a0 Apart from this, police picketing has been made mandatory twice a day by senior officials.
'Who is he?'
MiD DAY had reported on November 19 last year, how Police Commissioner BK Gupta, after taking over the reins from YS Dadwal, started making surprise visits at various police stations and sensitive areas in the city, in plain clothes, during the night. According to sources, on one such visit at the Tilak Marg police station, the CP had a few unpleasant surprises in store for him. Reportedly, some officers were missing, others were sleeping on duty. The commissioner lost his cool and shouted at the Assistant Station House Officer (SHO) Brijmohan Bahuguna. "Ye thana hai ya barafkhana (is this a police station or an ice factory)?" Gupta asked Bahuguna, who was adjusting his uniform. The CP also scolded the Assistant SHO for not wearing his cap. A part of the problem was that no one could recognise the CP as he was in plain clothes. Officials were asking each other that who was scolding the SHO. "Duty officials and other personnel came to know who he was only when his staff official arrived at the police station," said the source.
