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Journalism of Courage
Caught on video: How a Delhi DCP shielded a fellow officer from a violent mob
Delhi Police DCP Vinit Kumar risked his life to rescue ACP Vivek Bhagat from a violent mob during student protests. Here’s what happened at the Tolstoy Marg-Sansad Marg intersection.
Protests in New Delhi. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)
When a video of a police officer in a green helmet embracing a battered senior officer and slowly pulling him out of a violent mob during the recent student protests in Delhi began circulating on social media, few knew the identity of the man risking his own life.
The officer in the green helmet is Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vinit Kumar. On Wednesday, Kumar was posted at the Tolstoy Marg-Sansad Marg intersection for law-and-order duty. His shift had begun at 4 pm and was to continue until midnight. Around 8.30 pm, as personnel were in the middle of a shift change and several lower staff had moved out, the situation on the ground deteriorated rapidly.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vivek Bhagat was making his way towards the intersection when he was surrounded by a mob.
“A constable came running to me and informed me that a police officer had been surrounded by the crowd and was being thrashed,” Kumar recalled. “There was no time to think.”
Accompanied by his operator, Rahul Siwach, and a handful of policemen, Kumar rushed into the crowd. Inside, the assault on Bhagat continued unabated.
“At one point, I genuinely thought the mob would kill Vivek. There was no chance that one could leave him there like that,” Kumar said.
He grabbed hold of Bhagat, wrapped his arms around him and began walking backwards, shielding the officer with his own body as the crowd continued to attack them. Kumar, identifiable in videos by his green helmet, became the human barrier between Bhagat and the mob.
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As they inched their way out, the blows shifted towards Kumar.
“The crowd started hitting me as well,” he said. “Rahul and Deepak tried to protect me.”
The rescue, however, came at high cost.
Head Constable Rahul Siwach was stabbed in the stomach during the operation. Constable Deepak was struck by a stone that smashed through the visor of his helmet. The impact left him seriously injured, fracturing facial bones and causing neurological complications. He is currently admitted to hospital.
Injured Head Constable Rahul Siwach (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement)
Kumar credits the rescue not only to his team but also to the quick thinking of fellow officers who held their ground despite dwindling manpower.
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Among them was ACP Rajouri Garden Sharadt Chandra Nirmal, who had been deployed since morning. Even as personnel rotated during the evening shift change, Nirmal stayed back instead of leaving his post.
“He played a remarkable role,” Kumar said. “While we went inside to rescue Vivek, he used his presence of mind to call the RAF personnel inside to help control the mob.”
Around 15 to 17 RAF personnel entered the area, helping create the space needed to extract Bhagat from the crowd.
For Kumar, the images that have since gone viral capture only a fleeting moment of the operation. They do not show the frantic decisions made in seconds, the officers who absorbed blows to shield one another, or the injuries that followed.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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