Mahender Singh Manral

Soft-spoken or unresponsive? Judicious or slow to take decisions? A yes-man or his own man? With Amulya Patnaik set to retire this month as chief of Delhi Police, a force that’s in the spotlight for its action/inaction in the Jamia and JNU cases, his stint will be marked by the many storms he faced, and weathered.

Given the daily protests in the national capital against the new citizenship law, the NPR, and the proposed NRC, the order triggered apprehensions on Friday night that a crackdown was imminent. Delhi Police officers have, however, clarified that the order is routine, and is issued periodically.

The December 15 protests had spiralled into violence after a section of protesters, including both Jamia Millia Islamia students and local residents, tried to march to Parliament but were stopped by police at Mathura Road.

The SIT has so far recorded the statements of eight wardens from JNU’s Periyar and Sabarmati hostels, 13 security guards and five students. Police have also found several mobile video clips which are being scanned.

Barely an hour after the police called a press conference to release names of suspects in the JNU violence case, the sting operation was telecast in which two first-year BA (French) students, claiming to be ABVP members, “confessed” their role in the violence.

After the V-C’s WhatsApp message, the next communication between the university and police was when Registrar Pramod Kumar handed over an official letter to them at 7.45 pm, “seeking increased presence and deployment on the premises”.

Sources said the report records events from 8 am, when 27 police personnel in plainclothes, including women, arrived for duty at the JNU Administration Block and relieved the night shift.

Police also rejected allegations of reaching the varsity late despite several pleas from the students’ union.

The December 15 protests had spiralled into violence after a section of protesters, including both Jamia Millia Islamia students and local residents, tried to march to Parliament but were stopped by police at Mathura Road.

On September 4, Lalit Aggarwal, owner of Satyam Jewellers, was found with his throat slit inside his bedroom.

An officer told The Indian Express that several instances of arson and riots were reported in the capital during protests against the new citizenship law: “There was extensive damage to public and private property, including public transportation, which caused huge loss to the government.”

According to the police, the incident came to light when minister Ranjit Singh Chautala received a call through an app, Crazy Call, which is banned in India. Meanwhile, Ranjit Singh has denied receiving any such call.

To get closer to a woman IAS officer, Ranjan Pratap Singh, a senior commandant with the CISF posted as Director in the Ministry of External Affairs’ Bureau of Security, allegedly planted 550 grams of charas inside the car of her husband.

During questioning, Azad revealed he came from Jaipur on Thursday and was staying in Noida. When he started receiving calls from the police, he switched off his phone. Later, the police approached his advocate, who said his client had made up his mind to turn up at Jama Masjid.

“Intelligence agencies had received inputs that some people from Haryana’s Mewat would be coming to Delhi in large numbers and could create trouble on the law and order front,” a senior officer from Delhi Police’s intelligence wing told The Indian Express.

Delhi Police have officially denied that they “fired bullets at any student”, and said that they would investigate the matter.

An officer in the Special Branch told The Indian Express they had sent an advisory to the South East district informing them about the protest.

The tempo driver had allegedly brandished a sword, injuring an assistant sub-inspector. The violence, caught on camera, broke out after the tempo bumped into a police van.

A senior police officer said this may have been a miscalculation by local district police. Initially, there were just 200 police personnel from the district and one extra company.