Delhi Police personnel protest transfers of ACP and SHO
About 100 officers, including women, demonstrated at Police Headquarters over the transfer of two officers following a scuffle with lawyers.
Approximately 100 Delhi Police personnel, including women officers, protested at the Police Headquarters on Monday, November 2, seeking the rollback of transfer orders for Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Manasvi Vashistha and Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Arun Kumar. According to reports from Urban Acres, Outlook, and Deccan Chronicle, the demonstration occurred in two phases, with personnel gathering both outside and within the premises.
The transfers, issued on October 28, followed an October 23 scuffle at the Shahdara police station where an advocate, identified as Lalit Bansal, allegedly sustained a head injury. Lawyers had launched an indefinite strike following the incident, accusing the officers of misbehaviour and alleging that the ACP brandished a loaded revolver during a meeting. Senior officers stated these claims were unsupported by evidence.
ACP Vashistha, who was transferred from his post as Sub-Divisional Police Officer in Gandhi Nagar to the Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC), reportedly joined the protest. He described the demonstration as an "organic call" and stated that police must raise their voices against hooliganism in police stations. Inspector Kumar was moved from Shahdara to the Delhi Police Security Branch.
During the protest, New Delhi DCP Sachin Sharma urged the personnel not to behave like demonstrators and to raise grievances inside the headquarters. As tensions grew, additional security and paramilitary personnel were deployed near Gate No. 1. The lawyers called off their strike after the transfer orders were issued.
On October 30, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar held talks with the Bar Council of Delhi and district court bar associations to create a joint grievance redressal mechanism.