Not Just a Manipuri: Delhi-NCR’s Lawlessness Should Terrify Everyone
LoP Rahul Gandhi at the memorial of Manipuri guitarist Chongtham Vikram Singh who was lynched this week. (Image INC India)
By MANISH ANAND
The killing of Chongtham Vikram Singh cannot be viewed only through the prism of racial violence. Delhi-NCR’s recurring cases of mob attacks, street violence and killings over trivial disputes point to a deeper crisis of policing and accountability.
New Delhi, September 11, 2026 — Lynching of Chongtham Vikram Singh, a guitarist from Manipur, has shaken up Delhi’s intelligentsia. Largely, his killing by a mob has been framed as an outcome of racial attack. In an age when memory is short, commentators run risk of forgetting episodes of killings in Delhi and its adjoining cities for reasons as trivial as delayed serving of paratha, brushing of a vehicle on the road, objecting to public consumption of liquor, and others.
To freshen up memory, it’s worth recalling that Pandav Kumar was just 21 years old when he was shot dead by late night revellers in South-west Delhi. The incident had taken place at 2 am on April 26, 2026 in Delhi’s Jaffarpur Kalam. He was allegedly killed for his identity, of being a Bihari.
Among several videos that go viral, one is worth recalling — a man in his 60s, wearing a tie and finely dressed assaulted with heavy lathi as he lied on the road after his car had brushed another vehicle. That incident took place somewhere in Delhi NCR. In one more video, a man in his early 60s was dragged out from his car and assaulted with an iron road in a tunnel in Delhi’s western part after he had accidently brushed a taxi. Such incidents aren’t exceptions but a pattern.
Former IPS officer Dependra Pathak, who served Delhi Police as its spokesperson, recently recalled during a conversation with senior journalists, that he still thinks of one case that was never solved. “Late in the night, as we were patrolling, we saw a man running out of a lane to collapse in our sight. He was heavily stabbed. That case could never get solved,” Pathak recalled.
It’s in Delhi NCR that readers will read crime stories of a Dhaba-owner or a worker being killed, for paratha served late. It’s in Delhi that one finds a stunning headline — neighbour killed over parking dispute.
Ironically, Delhi is just a city and yet its police force is one of the largest in the country. Still, Delhi presents a case of a lawless city.
The police officials often explain that a major chunk of the force is deputed for VIP security. Irony dies many deaths as cases tumble out of valuables stolen even from VIP areas such as South Avenue and Tughlaq Road from bungalows of MPs.
The Delhi Police personnel reportedly are highly stressed as well, for they work for extra hours. The Asian Age in a report in 2007 stated several police personnel failed the test when they were asked to complete a simple set of exercises such as running and push ups. Many of them were found to have been overweight. Some were sleep deprived.
One may wonder what do the police personnel really do when the city that they man is portrayed as lawless. That the label comes to the city of criminals roaming around with impunity.
Delhi and its adjoining cities have seen an explosion of gang wars and also cases of extortions. Gangsters have been shot dead in court premises. Revenge killings are regularly reported. A gym-owner is shot dead. A property dealer is shot dead. A businessman is shot dead. Keep the count and the cases will tumble out in plenty.
Until 2009, late Sheila Dikshit was sanguine about the idea that Delhi Police must report to the city government for the sake of accountability. Frustrated with centre’s apathy, she afterwards pleaded that at least Delhi Traffic Police be given to the city government.
But the Centre cannot dispense with the Delhi Police. Delhi has a parliament. Delhi has a diplomatic enclave. The list of alibis is long. Outcome: Delhi bears the wrath of an arguably most unaccountable police force.
If a group of revellers play loud music and consume liquor, Manipuri guitarist Chongtham Vikram Singh had not to come downstairs late in the night. The beat constable should have caught hold of the hooligans.
“This is not a single incident. This happens all the time. Sometimes it doesn’t end in murder; sometimes it ends in insults, threats or violence. It is happening far too often in our country. It is happening to people from the Northeast and to many communities across this country,” said Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Opposition, in the Lok Sabha at a memorial for the deceased guitarist in New Delhi.
“We stand against this, we will fight it, and we will defeat it,” added Gandhi.
His diagnosis of the malady may be erroneous, for the ills fester because of the police feeding to the VIP culture, while being unaccountable.
Split Delhi Police in multiple units, say veterans, and give a dedicated force for the security and safety of India’s VIPs, and make Delhi Police serve the people of the city. For that accountability is the mantra.
(This is an opinion piece. Views are author’s own.)
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