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Swaraj puts her ministers on night-patrol duty

Keeping her word about staying up at night so Delhiites can sleep peacefully, Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj was out for about four hours last night, keeping tabs on how the police functions, or does not.

Sharing her experiences at the Kalyanpuri police station in East Delhi with reporters today, Swaraj said what she saw was "truly amazing".

Swaraj said that when she reached the police station past midnight IST, the staff was present but there was no sign of Station House Officer Anjani Kumar. While the daily diary said he had gone on patrol duty, his name was not in the roster of those on night patrol. All efforts from midnight to about 4 am to track down the elusive SHO were in vain.

Agitated, Swaraj summoned the area's deputy commissioner, Balaji Shrivastava, and recommended that the SHO be suspended.

Swaraj said she had a meeting with Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani today, at which the law-and-order situation in the capital came up for discussion. "I told the home minister that it would be an enlightening experience for him to go out on night patrols once in a while," the chief minister said.

She added that she had told all her Cabinet colleagues to take turns at going on night patrols one day of the week.

UNI

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