As 2016 is ending and 2017 is just day away, the crime scene in the city remained in the focus. The Delhi Police had many hits to its credit but it also faced flaks from many quarters.
From arresting three Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, including the president of students union Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition to booking of several AAP MlAs, 2016 saw the Delhi Police battling a series of controversies even as it cracked a number of high-profile cases, nabbed wanted terrorists and busted an espionage ring involving a Pakistan High Commission staffer.
In the new year, the Delhi Police envisages to modernise its operations and reduce burden on its more than 80,000 personnel by mulling over the possibility of introducing eight-hour shifts on the lines of its Mumbai counterpart.
The Delhi Police will also be setting up a separate control room for handling calls on phone number 112, which will be India’s equivalent of 911 of the US’ all-in-one emergency services, that will be rolled out from January 1 and the closure of 100 that is the go-to solution for people in distress.
In June, a multi-city kidney racket involving doctors and touts was busted by Delhi Police while it arrested Khalistan liberation Front chief Harminder Singh Mintoo who had escaped from Nabha jail. A number of persons suspected to have links with ISIS and al Qaeda were also caught in the course of the year.
In February, the arrest of JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and two others on charges of sedition for allegedly organising an event against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, triggered a huge controversy with Opposition political parties slamming police for “working at the behest of ruling BJP”.
Police had also come under severe criticism following attacks on journalists and students and teachers of JNU at the Patiala House courts by some lawyers just before Kanhaiya was to be produced.
In October, JNU student Najeeb Ahmed went missing, a day after he was allegedly involved in a brawl with some students including ABVP activists, leading to an agitation with students alleging police inaction in tracing him.
The uneasy relationship between the AAP Government and the Delhi Police continued this year as police arrested nine AAP MlAs, drawing angry reaction from the party with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging the law enforcing agency was acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The MlAs arrested are Dinesh Mohaniya, Prakash Karwal, Gulab Singh, Amanatullah Khan, Somnath Bharti, Rituraj Govind, Naresh Balyan, Sharad Chauhan and Jagdeep Singh and the charges ranged from rioting, outraging the modesty of woman, sexual harassment, criminal intimidation and assault.
