With Arvind Kejriwal projecting the recent theft of his WagonR car as indicative of the dismal state of law and order in the Capital, Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal has cited its swift recovery to contradict the Chief Minister and give Delhi Police a pat on the back.
‘In safe hands’
On Tuesday, Mr. Baijal replied to Mr. Kejriwal’s letter regarding the theft to assert that the Capital’s law and order is in safe hands. A Raj Niwas communiqué issued the same day said that the L-G, after receiving information regarding the incident of theft, had immediately asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to take prompt action. “The Commissioner has submitted a status report to the LG wherein he has apprised that several teams were constituted immediately to search the car,” the statement said. The Commissioner’s report, the statement added, stated that CCTVs of the place of incident and Delhi’s border areas were scanned intensively, intensive checking of parking places was carried out and all the picket staff put on alert; due to these “integrated efforts”, police recovered the stolen car within two days.
The L-G, in his letter, further stated that he regularly reviews the law and order situation with the Police Commissioner and senior officers and steps have been taken to make the law and order machinery more effective and public-oriented.
Prompt action
“The Delhi Police is taking prompt and effective action in cases of motor vehicle thefts and due to their sincere efforts, Delhi Police has arrested 3252 auto lifters till 30th September, 2017. The Chief Minister was also apprised that in the case of theft of this Wagon R, the Delhi Police has submitted in its report that this car was parked about 100 meters away from the authorized parking and no security gear or equipments were installed in it,” the statement further said.
In this regard, according to Raj Niwas, the L-G informed the Chief Minister that the Delhi Police was “regularly motivating and encouraging” residents to install various safety gear and equipment such as car alarms, steering wheel locks, gear locks, GPS trackers in vehicles in addition to attempting to make them aware that they park only at authorised parking sites.
‘Cooperate with Police’
The letter, the communiqué added, ended with the L-G expressing hope that the CM would not only cooperate in Delhi Police’s efforts to generate security/parking awareness among residents of Delhi but also boost the policemen’s morale “by appreciating their commendable efforts that led to the recovery of his stolen car within two days”.
