NEW DELHI (The Thursday Times) — India’s home ministry has suspended a Delhi police officer, hours after about 100 officers gathered outside police headquarters on Monday to demand that he and a colleague be reinstated after a clash with lawyers.
The protest later grew, with about 500 personnel attending a meeting with Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and other senior officers.
The ministry suspended Assistant Commissioner of Police Manasvi Vashistha with immediate effect late on Monday, in an order marked “Most Immediate”. It said departmental proceedings were being considered but gave no grounds. Vashistha, who had protested against his transfer, may not leave Delhi without permission during the suspension.
The dispute began with a scuffle between lawyers and police at Shahdara police station on October 23, in which a lawyer allegedly suffered a serious head injury. District court lawyers went on strike, and called it off on October 28 after Vashistha and the station house officer, Arun Kumar, were moved to a police unit for women and children.
Those transfers angered the force. The stand-off echoes November 2019, when thousands of Delhi police personnel protested outside their headquarters after a clash with lawyers at the Tis Hazari court complex.
