New Delhi, July 24: Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar today indicated that he may reveal the names of those behind a “motivated campaign” against him in the aftermath of the December 16 gangrape incident after he demits office by the month-end.
Kumar had come under severe attack over police's handling of the massive protests in the city in the wake of the brutal gangrape with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit even demanding his removal.
“I will not give their names just now,” he told PTI when asked in an interview to reveal the names of those he claimed to be behind the motivated campaign. When asked whether any politician was behind it, he said “they are not politicians”.
Strongly defending the police action in handling the massive protests after the incident, the Police Commissioner said he was personally targeted during his tenure but ruled out involvement of politicians in the campaign aimed at removing him.
The outgoing Commissioner counts bringing professionalism into his over 80,000-strong force and cracking of a number of high-profile cases including the spot fixing scandal, as his major achievements during his 13-month-long stint as head of the force.
“No, never. I am not a quitter. I don't believe in running away from situation. So never considered quitting. It was a motivated campaign and it's over,” he said when asked whether he contemplated quiting after his removal was demanded by the Chief Minister following the police crackdown on protesters at India Gate and Raj Path.
Justifying the police action against protesters in India Gate following the gangrape incident, Kumar, a 1976-batch IPS officer, said the force did not have any option but to remove the crowd as Russian President Vladimir Putin was arriving in the city and preparations had to be made at the Raj Path for the Independence Day celebrations.
“It is misconception that we did not handle the (protests) well. Throughout the day we tried to persuade them, we tried to request them to disperse. We fired teargas shells, we fired water canons several times.
“It was a leaderless crowd. Lumpen elements had begun to hijack the entire campaign. So we had to take action...we had no option. When all other options failed, we resorted to cane charge and the crowd melted away,” Kumar, who will retire on July 31, said.
