DCP Sanjay Sain, the face changer of North East Delhi –“Citizens have started complementing instead of commenting”
New Delhi, February 15
The district of North East in Delhi had become name synonymous with gangs, gang wars, riots, violence and labelled as a ‘dangerous’ area for years. However, the paradigm shift in the image and administration of the North East Delhi was witnessed with the relentless efforts of deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Sain.
DCP Sanjay Sain has changed the view of the NorthEast District also known as the infamous ‘Yamunapar’ of Delhi.
Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana recently lauded the efforts of DCP Sain and his team and sent appreciation letters. Inspector Tanvir Ashraf and ASI Arvind Kumar were awarded with Asadharan Karya Puruskar for their contribution in riot investigations.
DCP Sain under his leadership brought an end to gangism of Nasir Chennu gang in north east, curbing organized crimes with an interesting shockwave policy under special operation called ‘Operation Ankush’ and importantly community policing to rope in citizens’ support.
The north east Delhi witnessed communal riots in 2020 in areas of Seelampur, Jaffrabad, Welcome, Shiv Vihar, Bhajanpura, Karwal Nagar, Chand Bagh and Maujpur. The riots were at the backdrop of the Citizens Amendment Act and clashes that erupted between anti and pro CAA protests turned into a horror of violence that killed 53 persons and left thousands homeless and take shelter in refugee camps.
It was challenge for Delhi Police to first restore peace, aide the injured and affected victims and ensure law and order back in the vicinity.
DCP Sanjay Sain took over as the DCP of NE district in 2021 and supervised the North East Delhi riot investigation which was with the district police.
DCP Sanjay Sain told BW PoliceWorld, “In the north east riots investigation, I wanted a system to work. We formed a riot cell in the district with three layer system to plug in the loopholes, rectify some processes and formulate data, investigations and other materials to ensure chargesheets are filed on time in court. The court that had pulled up the police for investigation had in their order complemented the police for the probe”.
The riot cell was led by a SHO who was given an additional Inspector to aide investigations dedicatedly on the riot cases. Special Public Prosecutors were appointed for the cases where the riot cell worked closely with them to take the cases to court for further procedures.
750 cases were registered after the riots out of which 670 cases were for investigation by the north east district police while 60 were handed over the Delhi Crime Branch. The investigations that could have begun full swing faced challenged of the pandemic and reluctance to give statements on the incident.
The north east Delhi investigation was conducted with excessive use of technology like face recognition and CCTV surveillance cameras to identify the culprits as opposed to the traditional method of statements and witnesses.
The area of north east which was known to be a den of gangsters was the first challenge for DCP Sain to face. The clout of infamous Nasir and Chennu gang overpowered the people living in the area with a shocking support for them.
DCP Sain came up with the interesting “shockwave policy” to eradicate the gangs from its roots.
Talking about the shockwave policy, DCP Sain said, “After studying the crime pattern and contributing factors, specific strategies were adopted for specific crimes under the umbrella of Operation “Ankush”. One of those strategies was the “Shock Wave Policy” to neutralize/erase the influence of gangs and gangsters in the district”.
He added, “The gangs of Nasir, Chennu Irfan and Hashim Baba had local support which made their clout even stronger. When a gangster among these was arrested and taken to the court, the locals used to make videos with music and pomp to portray them as some leaders who are being wrongly taken to jail. When I witnessed it myself when Hashim Baba was produced in the court that day I decided that if the gangs need to be eradicated, we need to take away the local support”.
The shockwave policy of the north east police is a comprehensive policy to deal with gangs and gangsters and to create deterrence among them and their members, sympathizers etc. and to create a sense of belief among the public towards their safety & security
DCP Sain added, “Our target was not the pawns but the kingpins. We began identifying the kingpins of gambling, arms trafficking, violence etc and began arresting them. This broke their nexus from the roots. The kingpins enjoyed local support that was simultaneously snatched away”.
The police began arresting the gang members in front of the communities and sent a message to people that the goonism won’t flourish. The family members of the gangsters were contacted by police where they were given a historysheet of that goon, sensitizing the family and mohallas about him and gradually the locals started cutting off ties with such goons.
This approach gave shockwaves to the dreaded gangs in north east and their supporters which brought tremendous reduction in crime. The Operation Ankush brought arrest of 6500 persons under the Indian Penal Code and 1500 under other provisions.
428 persons were arrested for arms trafficking, 206 persons for liquor cartels, 422 for gambling rackets and 62 for narcotic smuggling. The same difference was witnessed in street crimes where 371 robbers, 381 snatchers and 575 auto lifters were arrested.
The north east district police sent 219 proposals for externment of criminals from the area while giving more proposals to book the criminals under the MCOCA and NDPS Act. After the arrest of Hashim Baba of the Nasir Chennu gang, no incident of gangwar was reported in North East District.
The third factor which aided DCP Sain in bringing down the crime rate and eradicating the gangs was community policing, a most important factor.
DCP Sain said, “The area of North East has diverse community and people with various backgrounds. We formed committees of civilians under police stations who would work shoulder to shoulder with police for community outreach. Three persons from Hindu community, three from Muslim and one intellectual. We began ideation with them, heard their woes and suggestions and moulded the police to work alongwith them. When we could get across the citizens, we could build their trust, sought their aide and ensured that the reputation of the north east Delhi must change”.
The north east district police also organized programmes and competitions for kids in the communities. In a programme named, “Umeed”, they distributed awards to the kids through Delhi CP. They have also sent a proposal to the Delhi CP office to start an award in the remembrance of late Constable Ratan Lal who was martyred in the north east riots. The ‘Ratan Lal Medal for Hope’ shall be given to those policemen who work for community harmony.
The demography of north east shares borders with Western Uttar Pradesh, Yamuna Khadi (forest cum riverbed area) which gives ample scope to the criminals to enter the limits of Delhi to commit crime. There are several small borders between north East Delhi and UP out of which 12 are for heavy vehicles but several lesser developed borders where people can walk in an out Delhi on foot.
DCP Sain took the onus to ensure the face of North East changes and brought in results. A 2011 batch IPS officer, DCP Sain is a recipient of FICCI SMART Policing Award 2020 for action against drugs in Arunachal Pradesh and CP Commendation Disc. He also won a Gallantry award for eradicating extremism.
An alumni of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Sain was earlier an IRS officer of the 2009 batch and took up IPS in 2011. He served as ACP Sadar Bazaar, DCP Traffic, SP Roing district in Arunachal Pradesh, additional DCP Shahdara before taking over the North East District.
Brought up in Jaipur of Rajasthan, DCP Sain’s elder brother and sister are IAS officers posted in Delhi and Chattisgarh respectively.
