‘Ensure civil defence volunteers don’t use police barricades to prosecute violators’: Delhi Police Commissioner

Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava has asked all 15 DCPs to ensure that civil defence volunteers do not use their barricades to stop and prosecute violators of Covid norms. He has also asked them to ensure that people do not confuse civic defence volunteers with police personnel and a clear distinction can be made between them.

The top cop’s directive comes after reports of volunteers issuing challans for Covid violations though they are not empowered to do so without sanction from the relevant authority.

It often becomes difficult for people to make a distinction between cops and civil defence volunteers as they have identical uniforms.

In November last year, a 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly impersonating a police officer and issuing fake Covid challans in Ashok Vihar.

In a recent crime review meeting, the police chief reviewed the Covid-19 prosecution done by district DCPs and directed them to step up action.

“He found that some districts are lagging on this front and directed that measures need to be stepped up by motivating the staff. Teams issuing challans should be sent to public places such as banquets and restaurants to check if norms are being violated and appropriate legal action should be taken against the owner or manager of these places in case of violations. He also directed that the fines collected after issuing challans should be deposited promptly with the authority concerned,” a senior police officer said.

“He also asked all DCPs to ensure that civil defence volunteers do not use our barricades to issue challans to violators. If civil defence volunteers are found issuing challans without appropriate authority, the district DCPs should write to the concerned authority in this regard. It should also be ensured that Delhi Police personnel do not get mixed up with volunteers issuing challans in an unauthorised manner,” the officer said.

Two months ago, three civil defence volunteers posing as policemen from the New Delhi area were arrested by the Delhi Police for issuing fake Covid-19 challans to people visiting Talkatora Garden. After the incident, the Delhi Police had tweeted, “It is learnt that Civil Defence volunteers, who on their own have no power to prosecute for Covid violations, are doing so and are mistaken as Delhi Police personnel. Misconduct, if any, are attributed to Delhi Police. FIRs have also been registered in this regard and miscreants have been arrested. We appeal that people may verify their identity before accepting any challan.”

Meanwhile, sharing details of challans issued by the Delhi Police, spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal said, “Till date, police have issued 5,86,034 challans for violating Covid norms. A total of 3,439 challans have been issued for spitting and 38,676 for violation of social distancing norms. As many as 4,30,507 masks have been distributed to needy persons.”