Counter-terrorism and improved police-public relations besides law and order management will be high on the priority list of Neeraj Kumar, the 1976-batch Indian Police Service officer of the AGMUT cadre who took over Delhi’s new Police Commissioner on Saturday.
Mr. Kumar, who so far was Director-General (Delhi Prisons), took over from Police Commissioner B. K. Gupta following the latter’s retirement. Shortly after joining office, the new Police Chief asked for cooperation from the media and assured Delhiites that the force will not be found wanting in its job. He said terrorism still remained the area of focus, apart from crime detection and prevention.
Emphasising on an improved interaction of the force with the public, Mr. Kumar said: “By this I do not mean to say it is poor right now, but there is scope for improvement…there should be a better rapport. People should be aware of the follow-up action taken on their complaints.”
Mr. Kumar, who introduced several reformative programmes during his tenure as Director-General (Prisons), was welcomed at the Police Headquarters with a gun salute.
During his 36-year service so far Mr. Kumar has also served in the Central Bureau of Investigation following his promotion to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police in 1993. He led the investigations in the Mumbai serial blasts case that resulted in the arrest of seven members of the Memon family and 16 others. The charge-sheets filed by the agency during his tenure led to conviction of a 100 out of 123 accused in the case.
The UTI scam and the cricket match-fixing case were cracked under his supervision and American Centre attack mastermind Aftab Ansari was deported after being arrested in Dubai.
Mr. Kumar re-joined the Delhi Police as Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) in 2002. Several terror modules were neutralised under his leadership. He was also instrumental in the planning and execution of security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games-2010.
Earlier on Saturday, the outgoing Police Commissioner B. K. Gupta described his tenure as very satisfying. At the farewell parade, he told senior officers that constables who undertook long working hours under the scorching heat were the real heroes and that they should be treated with respect.
“It is easy talking about policing in air-conditioned rooms, but they do not enjoy such comforts. We need to understand their problems,” he added.
