New Delhi: Multiple videos have surfaced from Jantar Mantar purportedly showing protesters questioning police personnel over the absence of visible nameplates during the deployment.
A similar situation was reported during the CJP protest two months ago.
Senior Delhi Police officers said there was no order directing personnel not to wear nameplates. “The nameplate has a pin, and sometimes it falls off during a scuffle while maintaining law and order,” a policeman said. Nameplates in Hindi and English will be worn by all ranks on the right chest above and in the centre of the breast pocket, according to a standing order of Delhi Police. A senior officer said most police personnel wear their nameplates, though there are some exceptions where personnel remove them.
However, some junior personnel deployed at the protest site cited different reasons for the badges not being visible in the videos. The videos have emerged amid heightened security arrangements at Jantar Mantar, where a large police contingent was deployed to prevent any unauthorised gathering. Protesters seen in the videos repeatedly asked police personnel to identify themselves and questioned why their names were not clearly visible on their uniforms. Non-gazetted officers and subordinates will also have their ranks mentioned on the nameplates. Some junior officers also raised concerns over the identities of cops becoming clear in photos and videos posted on social media, saying their their residential addresses could be leaked and their families, including children, targeted, potentially leading to doxxing.
They find details about family members, and nowadays people can easily be targeted online,” a police officer said. Another said residential addresses could also be leaked, posing a serious security threat to the cops and their families. “As soon as the names of cops are known, there is social media patrolling.