Ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik hospitalised

Mumbai: Former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Arup Patnaik has been admitted to Jaslok hospital in South Mumbai after he reportedly complained of chest pain.

Mr Patnaik was the Commissioner of Mumbai Police till as recent as last week. He was transferred and promoted to Director General, Security Corporation, after being criticised by some parties for his handling of the August 11 riots in the city. Mr Patnaik was succeeded by Satyapal Singh as the new Police Commissioner.

On August 11, a riot took place at Mumbai's Azad Maidan. Thousands had gathered to protest against the killings of Muslims in ethnic violence in Assam and Myanmar. An armed mob infiltrated the crowd, and went berserk. Two people were killed and more than 40 injured, many of them policeman. Some policewomen were molested.

Mr Patnaik told NDTV earlier this week that though he has been accused of not acting strongly to curb the riot, he is convinced that he did the right thing, and that he accepts that the buck stops with him. He said that if he had not asked the police to show restraint and had they opened fire, 200-300 people could have been killed. The idea, he said, was to prevent the situation from worsening. From the stage, he ordered that any of the protestors at the rally who dispersed peacefully, would not be arrested.

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