Missing in action SHO suspended

NEW DELHI, October 14: Sushma Swaraj looked pleased as punch after her first night out on the streets of the Capital. She spent the wee h...

NEW DELHI, October 14: Sushma Swaraj looked pleased as punch after her first night out on the streets of the Capital. She spent the wee hours of this morning at Kalyanpuri police station waiting for the SHO to show up. She was told that he was out on patrol duty but she wanted him summoned immediately. After waiting for two hours at the thana, she called up the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge and said the truant SHO deserved to be suspended for dereliction of duty he was.

8220;I had promised yesterday,8221; she beamed at a press briefing later in the day, 8220;that I would stay awake all night so that Delhiites could sleep safely. That is exactly what we are going to do.8221; For good measure, she added that she would be enlisting the services of her six cabinet colleagues for night patrol duty.

With a television camera crew in tow, Swaraj started her patrol from the eastern fringes of the capital bordering Uttar Pradesh. En route, she intermittently stopped to chat with PCR van personnel before making a surprise visit to the police station.

The Chief Minister reached the police station after midnight and asked for SHO Anjani Kumar. She was informed by his colleagues that he was out on patrol duty. The duty register too indicated that he was on patrol duty. At her behest, a wireless message was sent to the SHO informing him about her presence in the police station. The SHO apparently replied that he would be at the station within 10 minutes.

The clock ticked away without any sign of the SHO. Flustered, the acting ACP Kalyanpuri, R.C.Kataria, arrived at the police station and wired the SHO again. When the SHO still did not appear, Swaraj called Balaji Srivastava, DCP East.

Even as her patience was running out, Swaraj spotted a constable leaving the station with something wrapped in a blanket. It was soon revealed that the SHO8217;s uniform was being sent to him. She was told that the SHO was unable to present himself before her because he was not in his uniform but in casual shorts.

After waiting for three hours, Swaraj gave up on the missing in action8217; SHO and called for his suspension.