Delhi Withholds Additional Police Charge for Vivek Bhagat

The Delhi government has withheld Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat’s additional duty charge as deputy commissioner of police after he requested not to take up the temporary assignment while an inquiry into allegations of harassment of women journalists is pending. The government said the order would be revised to cover the 11 other officers initially assigned the charge; the supplied reports do not confirm that the revised order has since been issued. The government said Bhagat asked to forgo the charge until a full inquiry into the allegations has been conducted and satisfactorily concluded. The allegations remain unresolved in the available information, and no findings from the inquiry have been reported. Three women journalists have accused Delhi Police officers of sexual harassment during an October 3 protest at Jantar Mantar. Police said the complaints had been received and referred to the Crime Branch for inquiry. The protest concerned demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged irregularities involving the Election Commission and the revision of electoral rolls.