Suave but a tough officer, Bhim Sain Bassi, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 1977 batch of Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, has been appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the notice on Tuesday. He will be the 20th Delhi Police chief after the Delhi Police was placed under ‘commissionertate system’ in 1978.
Bassi, currently holding No-2 position in the Delhi Police, will assume the charge on August 1, but his task is already cut out. The Delhi Police is reeling under the shortage of mid-level officers. MHA’s transfer policy has ensured that DCP-level officers are sent out to other States, leaving the Delhi Police high and dry.
Bassi will have to deal with the problems that his predecessor braved, including many challenging issues pertaining to the safety and security of women in the National Capital, especially in the aftermath of brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student on December 16.
Three officers of the AGMUT cadre, Bassi and two of his batchmates, Ajay Chaddha and Kanwaljit Deol, were in the race for the job. Chaddha, DG (DG) of ITBP, is due to retire in August hence his name was not considered.
Kanwaljit Deol, DG (Investigations) NHRC, who has 15 months left before her superannuation in October 2014, too was discussed as a possible choice for Delhi police chief post. But scale tilted in the favour of Bassi since he will retire in February 2016.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister cleared Bassi’s name to take over one of the most challenging assignments in the Indian Police.
Bassi brings home, 36 years of experience in policing and administration. A graduate of Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Bassi joined AGMUT cadre in 1977 and his first field posting was with Pondicherry Police in 1980 where he served as an Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) and then moved to Arunachal Pradesh in 1981 as SP. He came back to Delhi in 1984 that saw the brutal massacre of Sikhs in the National Capital after assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh guards. Bassi served as Additional DCP of New Delhi district during that period and then moved to Security wing as the DCP. His first posting as DCP of a district was with North East and then he was posted to the highly sensitive North district where he remained at the helm for a period of three and half years. He then proceeded to join Intelligence Bureau and was appointed as the Inspector General of Police of Chandigarh after the completion of his central deputation.
Bassi returned to Delhi Police in 2002 and headed Southern Range as Joint CP. He took over the reigns of the Intelligence and Vigilance wings of Delhi Police on promotion as Special CP. He was then appointed the DGP of Goa in 2009 and remained there for two years before returning to Delhi as Special CP Traffic. He took over as the Special CP; Administration in August 2012 after Neeraj Kumar took over from Brajesh Gupta.
Bassi will assume the charge of National Capital’s elite police force on August 1st as Neeraj Kumar hangs his boot on July 31st. Kumar had to face criticism from all the quarters on issue of the December 16 gang-rape. Delhi Police redeemed itself by not only arresting all the accused persons in no time but also submitted the chargesheet in a record of 10 days.
With sexual crime on the rise, the new police chief will have to contend with the issue of providing security to Delhi residents, especially women, and his major challenges will include bringing down cases of sexual violence against women and children.
