NEW DELHI: Following a series of complaints of alleged extortion and harassment by civil defence volunteers (CDVs), who have been issuing challans for not wearing masks in public places, the opposition BJP and Congress on Thursday asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to look into the matter.
Speaking at a press conference, former union minister and senior BJP leader Vijay Goel also sought intervention of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Police Commissioner.
He said that they should act to stop ‘hooliganism’ by the civil defence personnel immediately.
“People are already troubled by Covid epidemic, and now this Kejriwal Sena is harassing the residents of Delhi. There are a number of complaints of extortion and Gundgardi by CDVs. They have no power to prosecute for Covid violations but are doing so. Because of their uniform, they are mistaken as Delhi Police personnel. They are wearing Khaki uniforms, badges and even socks like police personnel,” said Goel.
Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava had already directed deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) to ensure that civil defence volunteers don’t use their barricades for stopping and prosecuting violators of Covid norms.
Goel said that he would stage a dharna along with RWAs andNGOs at Jantar-mantar on Saturday to protest against harassment by CDVs. Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar also appealed to Kerjiwal to rein-in the CDVs and not al low them t o overreach.
“There volunteers had earlier been posted at traffic signals to ensure that engines are turned off engines while waiting at traffic lights, to prevent air pollution. There were complaints about their misbehaviour and extortion by them then also. Instead of assisting Delhi Police duty Civic Duty, the CDVs are overreaching their authority to issue fake challans, resulting in clashes at traffic signals and other places,” said Congress leaders.
On Wednesday, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shanker Kapoor wrote to Baijal on the same issue. He demanded that their uniform should be changed to some other colour instead of present khaki.