My Focus Will Be On Basic Policing: Rakesh Asthana Takes Charges As Delhi Police Chief

Soon after taking charge as the Delhi Police chief, Rakesh Asthana said he will handle specialized problems as per SOP.

New Delhi: Senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Rakesh Asthana on Wednesday took charge as the Commissioner of Delhi Police and said his focus will be on basic policing. Giving further details, Asthana said that if this is being done, then there would a sense of satisfaction among the public & law & order situation can be maintained. He also added that he will handle specialized problems as per SOP.

“My focus will be on basic policing. If we do this, there would a sense of satisfaction among the public & law & order situation can be maintained. We will handle specialized problems as per SOP,” Rakesh Asthana said soon after taking charge as the Delhi Police chief.

My focus will be on basic policing. If we do this, there would a sense of satisfaction among the public & law & order situation can be maintained. We will handle specialized problems as per SOP: Newly-appointed Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana pic.twitter.com/irF40sFvyY

— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2021

He was accorded the ceremonial guard of honour by the police force upon his arrival at the Delhi Police Headquarters at Jail Singh Marg.

In an order issued on Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said that Asthana, who was serving as the director general of the Border Security Force, would join as the Delhi Police Commissioner with immediate effect.

His appointment came just days before his superannuation on July 31. He will have a tenure of one year. This is one of the very few instances when an IPS officer outside of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre has been appointed as the Delhi Police chief.

A 1984-batch IPS officer, Asthana had earlier served as the special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). During his stint in the CBI, he was engaged in an unsavoury spat with the then CBI Director Alok Verma with both of them levelling allegations of corruption against each other.

Senior IPS officer Balaji Srivastav was given the additional charge of CP Delhi after the retirement of S N Shrivastava in June-end.