‘People are fortunate police not under AAP’

In what could further trigger the war-of-words between the Delhi police and the Delhi government, top cop B.S. Bassi on Monday said that the people of Delhi are “fortunate” that the city police was not under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government as otherwise it (the police force) would have had to “give in to local pressure”.

“I can tell you that people of Delhi are fortunate to have the police not under the Delhi government... Otherwise there would be a lot of local pressure,” Mr Bassi said while addressing the Delhi Police Annual Conference.

“A Prime Minister will not have local influence, a home minister will not have local influence, but if the Delhi police comes under the local government, they would have local influence,” Mr Bassi said.

The police chief, however, did not make any direct reference to the Kejriwal-led government, with which the Delhi police has been engaged in a tug-of-war of sorts in past several months over its functioning.

A number of rape incidents in the national capital last year had triggered a flash point between the AAP government fronted by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Delhi police led by Mr Bassi.

The AAP government had in fact upped the ante and even proposed putting the Delhi police under its jurisdiction for a year, on a trial basis, prompting quick rebuttal from the top cop.

In his strongest assertion, the police commissioner had said it would be a “very unfortunate” day in the history of the capital if the Delhi police comes under the city government and that its functioning under the Centre’s jurisdiction was “perfect”.