NEW DELHI: Soon after taking charge, acting Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava on Saturday said his priority is to restore peace and ensure communal harmony in the national capital, which witnessed its worst-ever riots in the last three decades early this week.
Shrivastava, a 1985-batch IPS officer, was appointed as the special commissioner (Law and Order) of Delhi Police this week, as the force struggled to contain the communal violence in northeast Delhi.
He was given the additional charge of the Delhi Police commissioner with effect from Sunday, following Amulya Patnaik's retirement.
It has been the tradition of the city that people of every section and religion live together in harmony and help each other in good as well as bad times, Shrivastava told reporters.
Talking about the measures taken to restore communal harmony in the city, he said the Delhi Police has started a massive outreach programme and senior officers have been meeting and speaking with people from every community to build confidence among them.
"To avoid such incidents in future, cases will be registered in crimes that were committed and we will try to arrest the accused involved so that legal proceedings can be initiated at the earliest," he added.
Shrivastava, who was repatriated from the Central Reserve Police Force on Monday, also appealed to everyone to support him in restoring peace in the city.
Besides ensuring that the morale of the 89,000-strong force remains high, Shrivastava faces the task of helping the Delhi Police overcome the credibility crisis after it was unable to check the communal riots that broke out in the national capital on Sunday night over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The Delhi Police was rebuked by the Supreme Court for failing to act "professionally" during the riots that claimed at least 42 lives and leftover 200 injured.
Meanwhile, outgoing Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik paid tributes to Head Constable Ratan Lal, who died during the recent violence, at his farewell parade held at New Police Lines, Kingsway Camp.
During his farewell speech, Patnaik said he was deeply pained by Lal's death and that police personnel never hesitate to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty.
He also wished for the speedy recovery of all the injured policemen.
Patnaik was also accorded a guard of honour at the parade.
Later, he handed over the charge to Shrivastava at the new police headquarters on Jai Singh Marg in Lutyens' Delhi.