New Delhi, February 28: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has cleared the appointment of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer SN Srivastava as new Police Commissioner of Delhi, reports said on Friday. SN Srivastava will succeed Amulya Patnaik who is set to retire tomorrow. Patnaik, who was to retire in January this year, was given a one-month extension for the Delhi assembly elections which concluded on February 11.

Srivastava, 1985-batch IPS officer, was brought in Delhi as Special Police Commissioner after large scale violence broke out in North East district earlier this week. The violence has resulted in the deaths of 38 people so far. Srivastava is the senior-most officer of the AGMUT cadre and was earlier posted as Directorate General in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). He had held the elite Special Cell of Delhi Police. Delhi Violence: Journalists Attacked by Mob While Covering Clashes Between Pro And Anti CAA Groups.

Immediately after taking over as Special Commissioner, Srivastava visited the riot-affected areas and eventually brought peace to the area. According to a report by IANS, he is known for being a hard taskmaster with a no-nonsense approach. Other senior officers such as Ajay Kashyap and Prabhat Singh were also contenders for the post of Delhi Police's chief, but Srivastava's appointment as Special Commissioner made it clear that who will take over the reins.

Meanwhile, normalcy was limping back in Delhi's North-East district on Friday. Prohibitory orders were relaxed for 10 hours view of improvements in the ground situation. Areas under 12 of the 203 police stations in Delhi (about 4.2 per cent of the geographical area) got affected in the violence that began on February 23 evening and continued for a couple of days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2020 11:16 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).