The blame game between the Delhi government and the police escalated further Wednesday with Delhi chief secretary P.K. Tripathy criticising city police chief Neeraj Kumar for his remarks against a divisional commissioner who had complained of police interference in the recording of the 23-year-old victim’s statement by a subdivisional magistrate.
In a counterattack, the police commissioner wrote to the home ministry Wednesday, rebutting charges that the police interfered while the SDM was recording the statement. In his letter, Mr Kumar denied that the police had tried to force a questionnaire on the SDM, and that it refused to allow videography. He also said it was the police that insisted the victim’s statement be recorded by a magistrate as her condition was rapidly worsening.
Mr Tripathy, criticising Mr Kumar for his remark, said Wednesday: “The Delhi police has no authority to comment on the functioning of someone who doesn’t come under its jurisdiction.” He was speaking after a Cabinet meeting that was attended by Vivek Vihar SDM Usha Chaturvedi, who recorded the victim’s first statement on December 21.