My first priority is to restore peace: New Delhi Police chief

Indian Police Service (IPS) officer SN Shrivastava took charge as the Delhi Police Commissioner replacing Amulya Patnaik, who retired on Saturday. The senior IPS officer was recently appointed the Special Commissioner, Law and Order, of the Delhi Police. Srivastava earlier headed the elite Special Cell of the Delhi Police.

New Delhi: Acting Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava on Saturday said his priority is to restore peace in the national capital and ensure communal harmony.

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, he told reporters after taking additional charge as the Delhi Police Commissioner.

Speaking to media, Shrivastava said: "My first priority is to maintain peace and bring back communal harmony to the city. It is the tradition of Delhi that the people from all communities live and work here."

"We have started a massive outreach programme where our officers meet people in their colony in an attempt to bring back communal harmony."

"We are registering riot cases. Efforts are on to arrest the culprits involved," he said.

On Monday, Shrivastava was repatriated from the Central Reserve Police Force .

Shrivastava, a 1985-batch IPS officer, was appointed as the special commissioner of Police (Law and Order) of Delhi Police this week, as Delhi Police struggled to contain communal violence in northeast Delhi. He was given the additional charge of the Delhi Police Commissioner with effect from Sunday, following retirement of Amulya Patnaik. (with agency inputs)