The Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar today expressed his regrets if any “innocent” youth suffered harm during police action at India Gate but refused to apologise for what his personnel did to quell the protests.
“If an innocent person has come to harm, I apologise. I feel sorry for that. But I do not apologise for what the police did there,” he told CNN—IBN.
Asked whether he feels that media fuelled the protests, he said, “absolutely”.
On whether there was any pressure on him to quit following the gang-rape of the young girl in a moving bus, he answered in the negative and said he was “not a quitter”.
“If we do only police bashing, if we do bashing system every day, it is not going to lead us anywhere... If sacking police commissioner improves the safety of women, then do it every day,” he said.
He said “totally lumpen” elements had hijacked the protests at India Gate and police were forced to act.
When told that many innocent protesters were also targeted, he asked, “Is it possible to segregate genuine protesters from hooligans in such situations?”
He described the gang-rape of the girl as “very barbaric” and said the reaction from public was “only natural”.