Departmental inquiry has been initiated against CRPF personnel in the security detail of Y-category protectee and poet Kumar Vishwas following an alleged incident of road rage in Ghaziabad. According to top officials, the personnel have been removed from duty.
Sources told News18 that an initial inquiry has deemed that the conduct of the CRPF personnel was not appropriate and they didn’t behave as per their mandate when they allegedly intercepted a vehicle and accosted its driver for not clearing the lane for Vishwas’ car. Top officials also denied the poet’s claim that the other car had posed a “threat” to him.
Officials further said it was found during the inquiry that Vishwas, a former Aam Aadmi Party leader, instigated the CRPF personnel into confronting the driver of the other car. Sources said the Y-category protectee would be informed of the violations on his part in an official communication soon.
The Incident
Based on a complaint filed by Dr Pallav Vajpai, the driver of the other car, Ghaziabad police filed a case against the security personnel under Sections 392 (punishment for robbery), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Describing the incident in his complaint, Dr Vajpai said: “… after the police vehicle passed, a Kia Carnival, tailing my car, started honking. Since there was little space, I was unable to give way. The car somehow overtook and intercepted my car.”
“Two men got out of it and started questioning my driving skills. They also abused me. When I objected, they told me that Kumar Vishwas was inside the car and was getting late to reach an event. I tried to explain that I too had an operation scheduled. On (hearing) this, one of the men dragged me out of the car and started beating me up,” Vajpai said in his complaint.
He further alleged that security personnel thrashed him using the butt of their pistols.
However, in posts dated November 8 on X (formerly Twitter), Kumar Vishwas claimed the vehicle carrying his security detail was “attacked” by another car. He also filed a complaint at the Indirapuram police station shortly before Vajpai approached the police.
“Today, when I left my house in Vasundhara while going to Aligarh, on the banks of Hindon, a car driver tried to attack the car of the security personnel traveling with me by hitting the car from both sides. When I got down, the security personnel interrogated that person. When he was stopped, he attacked not only the UP police constable, but also the security personnel from central forces. Reported to police. Reason yet unknown. May God keep everyone safe. Thank you for all your good wishes,” the poet posted in Hindi.
आज अलीगढ़ जाते समय वसुंधरा स्थित घर से जब निकला तो हिंडन के तट पर, किसी कार चालक ने साथ चल रहे सुरक्षाकर्मियों की कार पर दोनों ओर से कार की टक्कर से हमला करने की कोशिश की।जब नीचे उतर कर सुरक्षाकर्मियों ने उस व्यक्ति को पूछताछ के लिए रोका तो उसने न केवल यूपी पुलिस के सिपाही अपितु…— Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) November 8, 2023
Twitter Spat
Called out on X by a journalist for not intervening at the time of the incident and for “blaming the victim” in his post, Vishwas doubled down on his allegations saying he witnessed the other driver “pushing the security personnel in a very rude and violent manner”.
“They snatched the Home Ministry badges of two security personnel, grabbed the carbine of one and pushed him. They may be angry for personal reasons or it may be their nature. But when I got my manager out of the car and sent him to calm down the fight and he started explaining to both the parties, this nice gentleman gave him two slaps as well,” he posted in Hindi.
Vishwas claimed he asked the security personnel about the incident on reaching Aligarh, who replied it was their job to check the threat perception.
“Anyway, the security personnel have written a report against that gentleman and he has written a report against the security personnel. What do I have to do with this whole episode? Police will definitely take appropriate action.”
Vishwas concluded the post with an apology to Dr Vajpai.
प्रिय त्रिपाठी जी । मैंने स्वयं उन सज्जन को दोनों तरफ़ से बार-बार गाड़ी बीच में जबरन व आक्रामक तरीक़े से घुसाते देखा। आगे की सुरक्षा गाड़ियों के दो कार पीछे बैठकर मुझे तो बहुत देर से पता चला कि अब वे सज्जन आगे गाड़ी लगाकर नीचे उतर कर बाक़ायदा केंद्रीय सुरक्षाकर्मियों के साथ झड़प… https://t.co/UzChe9cYQN— Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) November 9, 2023
Action from the Top
A top level official told News18 that the order to take action against the CRPF personnel involved in the incident came from D-G SL Thaosen. The D-G also asked the concerned officials to brief the security personnel that such behaviour would not be tolerated, and to remain professional while dealing with such matters, sources said.
“During initial inquiry, we have found that the conduct of some CRPF personnel was not as per their mandate. Our job is to give protection to the protectee and give him/her fool-proof security. Personnel involved in the incident have been removed from duty, sent to lines (sic) and inquiry has been ordered. Since everything started with a verbal altercation on overtaking the vehicle, we have found no threat to Kumar Vishwas from another car driver,” a senior CRPF official said.
Asked whether Kumar Vishwas will continue to get the high-level security, the official said the protection accorded is based purely on threat perception as per the Home Ministry’s order.
Vishwas was accorded Y-category security in February 2022 following threat perception based on intelligence inputs in the wake of his allegations against AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He had accused Kejriwal of supporting separatists during the high-voltage campaign for Punjab elections, but the AAP chief had dismissed the allegations.