Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik last week distributed awards to the cleanest police colonies. (File) Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik last week distributed awards to the cleanest police colonies. (File) Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik last week distributed awards to the cleanest police colonies. There was just one catch: He “unknowingly” gave one of the awards to a person who is not a Delhi Police personnel. The prize distribution ceremony was held at the police headquarters on May 16, and three colonies were selected under the ‘big’, ‘medium’ and ‘small’ categories for awards under the Swachh Bharat Mission cleanliness drive. There are 165 police colonies in Delhi with around 15,000 flats. For the last three years, police have been conducting drives to check whether residents are keeping their colonies clean. After each drive, the president of the resident welfare association (RWA) of these colonies is awarded a cash prize by the police chief for the colony’s welfare. Under the ‘small’ category, a non-police colony from southwest Delhi’s Vasant Kunj North was erroneously selected. The RWA president of the non-police colony was invited to the police headquarters to receive the award. Since police chief Amulya Patnaik had to give away the awards, all senior officers were called to attend the function. The police chief gave the awards to all three RWAs and appreciated the effort. According to sources, till the last moment, the RWA president of the non-police colony was not aware of the anomaly. After receiving the award, when her ‘belt name’ was asked, the RWA president said she is not from the Delhi Police. The woman was then asked to return the award and was tendered a verbal apology for being wrongly felicitated, sources said, adding that the correct person was then given the award. She was later given a certificate of appreciation for the cleanliness of her colony, said sources. A ‘belt number’ is a type of identification number through which police personnel are identified. When contacted, DCP (southwest) Milind Dumbere said they have initiated a probe and suspended a constable in connection with the issue. He said the confusion arose because the RWA presidents of the police and non-police colonies have the same names. “While compiling the list of RWAs, our constable posted in the administrative branch put the name of the private colony’s RWA by mistake,” said Dumbere. For all the latest Delhi News, download Indian Express App

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