New Delhi: Neeraj Kumar would never have expected that there would be demand for his removal from the post within six months of taking over as commissioner of Delhi Police in June last year, even after his long association with the sprawling metropolis.
The gang-rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in a moving bus on December 16 by six men and failure of the police to detect the suspiciously moving bus on busy streets of south Delhi made Kumar’s tenure untenable. A visibly irritated Kumar was seen shouting at journalist, asking should their editors be held responsible for any wrong reporting done by them.
Many believe that the recent crackdown on bookies involved in sport fixing during the Indian Premier League and subsequent arrest of three Rajasthan Royal cricketers including former team India member S. Sreesanth was done to divert attention from the gang-rape and several other controversies surrounding the Delhi Police.
Kumar, 60, originally hails from the eastern state Bihar. He has however spent most of his time in Delhi where he studied at the prestigious St Stephen’s College before qualifying for Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1976.
Recipient of two President’s medals, but for the Delhi gang-rape incident, Kumar has had an outstanding career in uniform, so much so that even Delhi High Court in May this year said that his annual confidential records during his entire career were outstanding while dismissing a plea to remove him from the post.
Having served in various capacities including in the Central Bureau of Investigation where he led the investigations into the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Kumar was brought back to Delhi as Special Commissioner to plan and oversee foolproof security for 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. Thereafter, he was made Director General of Prison in Delhi where he introduced the literacy programme Read and Teach to facilitate education of illiterate inmates of Tihar jail. 400 inmates landed jobs in various companies after their release through Kumar’s efforts before he was appointed as commissioner of Delhi Police.
