The Election Commission (EC) has removed Deputy Commissioner of Police, SouthEast, Chinmoy Biswal from the charge on Sunday following two incidents of civilian firing over the past two-three days at Shaheen Bagh and the Jamia area, ahead of the February 8 Delhi Assembly elections.
EC ordered shifting of DCP Biswal whose charge includes Shaheen Bagh, the scene of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests since the past 2 months.
EC statement said that Biswal “stands relieved from his present post with immediate effect and shall report to the MHA”.
Kumar Gyanesh, the senior most Additional DCP (Southeast), will take charge of DCP of the area immediately, it said, while asking the Union Home Affairs Ministry/the Commissioner of Police to send a panel of three names to the Commission for posting as the new DCP, Southeast.
The EC has also directed the Delhi Chief Secretary to file a compliance report on the shifting.
Yesterday, a man identified as Kapil Gujjar of Dallupura village in east Delhi, fired three bullets in the air in Shaheen Bagh area after warning protesters to vacate the spot. He also shouted communal slogans, like “Jai Shree Ram” and said, “Humare desh mein sirf Hinduon ki chalegi aur kisi ki nahi (in our country only Hindus will prevail).” He was apprehended by the police.
On Thursday, a teenager opened fire with a country-made pistol when the Jamia students were to start their march from the Varsity to Rajghat. It left a journalism student, Shadab, with injuries on his arm.
Chaos erupted briefly at Shaheen Bagh on January 28 as well, when an unidentified man, with a pistol strapped to his waist, walked into the protest site demanding that one side of the road be opened for commuters. The man was overpowered by protesters, as seen in a video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media. The man initially kept the pistol hidden as he shouted at protestors to leave the site. But as soon as the protestors started pushing him out of the site, the man pulled his shirt up and flashed the firearm.
Delhi is set to go to polls on February 8 which will be a tripartite contest between AAP, Congress, and BJP. BJP has launched heavy attacks on the anti-CAA protesters in the national capital, specifically, Shaheen Bagh during its election campaigns.