Amid the controversy over the use of pellet guns against protesters at Jantar Mantar, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director-General Gyanendra Pratap Singh has urged personnel to perform their duties fearlessly, assuring them that he would take responsibility for their actions.
Addressing the force’s investiture ceremony on Monday, Singh said he would stand by personnel for decisions and actions taken in the bona fide discharge of their duties.
“As the Director-General of the CRPF, I want to assure each one of you that whether it is an operational battalion or a law-and-order unit, whatever decisions you take and whatever actions you carry out in the bona fide discharge of your duties, I take responsibility for all those decisions and actions,” he said.
“Continue to perform your duties fearlessly. Wherever responsibility or accountability needs to be taken, I will take it as the Director-General,” Singh added.
The CRPF’s Rapid Action Force (RAF) has come under scrutiny over its handling of the situation at Jantar Mantar and other parts of central Delhi during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) July 20 march to Parliament to protest against paper leaks. The RAF, a specialised unit of the CRPF, was raised in 1992 to deal with riots and other public disturbances.
Earlier this month, RAF Inspector General Seema Dhundhia is learnt to have told personnel that the “force gradient” adopted during crowd-control operations at the Parliament march on July 20 was not in accordance with prescribed standards and RAF training.
The observation came after an internal review flagged serious operational lapses during the protesters’ march towards Parliament, in which three people sustained pellet gun injuries. In policing, a force gradient refers to different levels of force that personnel may use depending on the threat or resistance they face.
According to sources, Dhundhia told officers that personnel deployed around Jantar Mantar and Parliament on July 20 had not received proper and timely briefings before the operation.
The sources said the RAF chief also stressed that personnel recently transferred from special operations zones, such as Jammu and Kashmir, should not be immediately assigned to crowd-control duties in Delhi.
“She emphasised that personnel transferred from the special operations zone such as Jammu & Kashmir, or other operational areas, possess a different work environment and operational perspective, but sectors such as Delhi, Bihar, Assam and Maharashtra require a distinct and balanced approach to crowd control and public order management,” a source said.
“Officers were instructed that force must be used only to the extent necessary, in a judicious, fair, balanced and sensitive manner. They were also told that before using force, personnel should issue necessary warnings and use graded crowd-control measures such as lathicharge, tear smoke and other approved methods only according to the situation,” the source added.
According to senior officers, the RAF’s role had been appreciated at the sector level. However, an internal assessment found “serious shortcomings” in several aspects of the deployment, which required immediate corrective measures.