Delhi riots: This ‘Hero cop’ who braved a mob to Keep His Professional Oath Intact




Mr. Neeraj Jadaun braved the rioters and forced them to retreat (Image Courtesy: Ankit Srinivas/BBC)

इस स्टोरी को हिंदी में पढ़ें

Whenever Delhi Riots 2020 will be discussed, good people and partiot Indians would remember at least one name who was in uniform and braved a mob to save lives breaking his protocol as we still remember Harsh Mandar and Sanjeev Bhatt for their bravery in Gujarat riots 2002.  This name is none other than Mr. Neeraj Jadaun who humbly rejected any heroism and stated that he just did what he had joined India Police Force for. He said he kept his professional oath intact.

Neeraj Jadaun, a superintendent of police in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state, told the BBC’s Vikas Pandey that he was patrolling a border checkpoint on 25 February when he heard sounds of gunfire coming from Karawal Nagar in Delhi – just 200m (650ft) away from him.

“He saw a mob of 40-50 people setting vehicles on fire when one of them jumped into a house with a petrol bomb. At that point, Mr Jadaun decided to break with traditional police protocol and made a split-second decision to cross the state border into Delhi,” the BBC reported.

In India, police officers need explicit permission to cross state borders.

“I chose to cross. I was willing to go alone despite being aware of the danger and the fact that it was beyond my jurisdiction. Those were the most terrifying 15 seconds of my life. Thankfully, the team followed me, and my seniors also supported me when I informed them later,” the British Newspaper quoted him as saying.

“It was dangerous as we were outnumbered and the rioters were armed. We first tried to negotiate with them and when that failed, we told them that police would open fire. They retreated but seconds later, they threw stones at us and we also heard gunshots,” he added.

However, Mr Jadaun and his team held their positions and kept pushing back until the rioters finally left.

Richi Kumar, a reporter with the Hindi daily Amar Ujala, described Mr Jadaun’s decision as the “bravest act” he had ever seen.

“The situation was very dangerous. The rioters were fully armed and they were not ready to listen anybody. I can describe them as bloodthirsty. They were throwing stones at the police but Mr Jadaun did not back down. There was real danger of policemen being shot at by rioters,” he told the BBC.

The violence first broke out in north-east Delhi between protesters for and against a controversial citizenship law.

But they have since taken on communal overtones.

Mr Jadaun said the rioters he saw had come prepared for arson.

“The area had many shops with stocks of bamboo. A fire would have engulfed the whole area and had that been allowed to happen, the death toll in Delhi would have been much higher.”

When his act was being hailed as a heroic one he humbly rejected it. “I am not a hero. I have taken oath to protect any Indian in danger. I was just doing my duty because I wasn’t willing to let people die under my watch. We were in a position to intervene and we did that,” he added.

Not only Mr.Jadaun’s act is appreciable but every policeman in his party deserves applause who saved integrity of Indian Police force when role of Delhi Police especially then Police Commissioner is dubious.

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