Tejpal case: Goa police chief wins plaudits for tact
The Goa Police chief, O P Mishra, has come in for praise by senior Delhi police officers, for the tactful handling of Tarun Tejpal, founder-editor of Tehelka in the sexual assault case. The very professional conduct of the Goa police, which is generally seen as a ramshackle force, with several crimes in the tiny state making national headlines, was lauded.
Mishra’s guidance in carrying out a methodical investigation and not rushing in to arrest Tejpal, but rather forcing him to join the investigation is applauded, as, with Tejpal agreeing to reach Goa on Friday, Mishra had won the first round of the battle of nerves,
They point out that had he not joined the police, Mishra could have easily been in academics. A doctorate in Sociology from JNU, Mishra’s book, ‘Policing Delhi’, has been published by the Oxford University Press. The book is a first full-length study of the connection between rapid urbanisation, rising crime, and law enforcement in Delhi. The book provides an insider’s account of the evolution of policing in Delhi since the mid-19th century.
For mer top cop Kiran Bedi tweeted recently, ‘Pressure by UP police and one by CBI did consider-
The police administration has been in the news for not being able to deal with the drug trade and illegal immigrants from Russia, Nigeria
able damage to Aarushi murder case. Their conduct was unprofessional! Goa police wiser so far!’
Mishra is known for his investigative abilities. As assistant commissioner of police in Delhi, in the 1990s, he had cracked the infamous Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case, involving the son of a senior Delhi police of ficer. Priyadarshini was in the third year of her law studies, when she was found strangled in her uncle’s house in South Delhi’s Vas- ant Kunj area. She had been raped, struck 14 times with a motorcycle helmet, and finally strangled with a wire. Mishra had pieced together a small cracked piece of the helmet visor to trace the accused, Santosh Kumar Singh.