Station House Officer of Malviya Nagar Vijay Pal
The Station House Officer of Malviya Nagar in south Delhi, Vijay Pal left for his village in Haryana today.
He has been sent on leave as a compromise formula to coerce Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal to call off his 33-hour protest in the heart of Delhi. Mr Kejriwal had demanded Mr Pal's suspension for alleged dereliction of duty. Last evening, he accepted the offer that the cop would be sent on leave while an inquiry is conducted against him.
On phone, a clearly demoralised Mr Pal told NDTV that he will wait for government orders to return to work. He says his being sent on leave is a political matter and refuses further comment.
But he does insist that he was only following the law when he stood up to Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti and his Aam Aadmi Party workers last week. (
'Dear Chief Minister, sack Somnath Bharti': Pressure on AAP to act against Law Minister)
Mr Pal had refused to carry out Mr Bharti's instruction that he raid a house occupied by Ugandan nationals in a locality called Khirkee extension, late on January 15. The minister had alleged that a sex and drug racket was being run from there. (
Blog: What Kejriwal's protest proved by Captain Gopinath)
The cop's refusal to conduct the midnight raid without a search warrant resulted in a public altercation with the AAP minister and triggered Mr Kejriwal's mega demonstration demanding his suspension and that of a few other cops.
Mr Pal has found support from many activists and Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi, who told Mr Kejriwal in a meeting last week that his SHO had followed procedure and that it was the minister who broke the law.