In response to an RTI reply on the money spent on CCTV cameras by the Delhi Police, a peeved Delhi Police sent a reply to the Prime Minister's Office that the man, who mailed them an RTI query is insane as his son died. However, in reality, the elderly man is alive and fit and his son is also alive. The shocking revelation comes a year after he had filed an RTI with the Delhi Police.
Submitting a response to the PMO, the Delhi Police without conducting proper investigation declared the man insane and his son dead. According to a senior police officer, “50-year-old Harpal Rana, who lives with his wife Seema, daughter Swati and son Akhil in Kadipur village had mailed an RTI to the Delhi Police on the number of CCTV cameras installed in the city and the cost incurred by the city police. When the Delhi Police replied that it had spent Rs 227 crore on installing 3309 CCTV cameras, Rana was shocked. When he asked wholesale retailers, they all claimed that the cost for each CCTV camera is Rs 40-45000 and going by that standard, Rs 15 crore should have been spent on the CCTV cameras. However, the Delhi Police in its reply had stated that each cameras costed Rs 6.86 lakh.”
When Rana sent the RTI response to the questionnaire to the PG portal (a redresal system in PMO), the PMO asked for a report from the Delhi Police.
The officer, requesting anonymity said, “The Delhi Police then sent a reply to the PMO that Rana has gone mad because of his son's death. As per Rana who is alive and well and lives with his family, he had mailed an RTI on the CCTV cameras to the city police in April 2016 which was then headed by Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma, now in Central Bureau of Investigation. By June 2016, the Delhi Police as well as the PMO had closed the enquiry on the CCTV cameras RTI.”