Published 22:03 IST, February 26th 2020
NSA Doval intervenes amid Delhi violence; assures citizens there's nothing to fear
On Tuesday night, when a Tata Safari entered the DCP North East office, little did anyone have an idea that NSA Ajit Doval had dropped by to take stock
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On Tuesday night, when a Tata Safari entered the DCP North East office, little did anyone have an idea that the country’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had dropped by to take stock of the situation.
Before this meeting, Delhi Police had received a lot of flak for not being able to control the situation in some parts of the North-East district where communal riots had broken out.
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For over 48 hours, several areas were burning with rioters going on a rampage. Republic TV was on the ground since Sunday when protesters had occupied some parts of Jaffarabad metro station. Following provocative speeches made by political leaders, things went out of control with reports of large scale violence coming from areas like Jaffarabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Gokulpuri, Chandbaug, Kardampuri and Bhajanpura. From shops being burnt down to homes being gutted, several lives were also lost. Locals complained about a lack of police presence.
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Doval's intervention
A major turnaround took place after NSA Doval took charge on Tuesday night. In an unprecedented move, the NSA took stock of the situation by going for an over 40 minute walk in the very areas which witnessed last scale violence. As he walked through the bylanes, he spoke to the people who came out to greet him. To each person he had one message - “the government is here to protect you. The police are here to protect you. You have nothing to worry about.”
On Wednesday morning when Republic TV started reporting from the same volatile areas, a marked difference was observed. While one can’t deny that there has been simmering tension and people are still living in fear, the law and order situation was brought under control to a large extent. No reports of large scale violence came in.
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What Republic TV witnessed on the ground was the presence of senior Delhi Police officials who were interacting with the residents. What worked on the ground are three big issues — proper deployment, quick response to distress calls/situation and reassuring all communities to uphold law and order. Two meetings took place at the DCP office. Those who attended the NSA meeting include JCP (east) Alok Addl CP (crime) MS Randhawa Special CPs SN Srivastava and Satish Golcha. This meeting lasted for 40 minutes. Delhi Police along with central paramilitary forces led by senior Delhi police officers carried out extensive patrolling on foot and in vehicles. This undoubtedly helped in normalising the situation. Extensive interaction with the local community also helped in easing anxiety.
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21:52 IST, February 26th 2020