Profiling of leaders a practice since long: Bassi

Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Monday denied that his force was profiling opposition leaders at the behest of the government, stating that the procedure has been practiced for decades.

"This has been a practice since long. A pro forma in fact was revised as early as in 1957. It was revised in 1987, and then it was revised in 1999. So, it is a fairly old practice and it is done with the motive of ensuring maintenance of public order and safety and security," he told the media.

Delhi Police personnel visited Rahul Gandhi's residence last week and also sought details about his height and colour of eyes and hair.

A team, led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal, visited Gandhi's Tughlak Lane residence to enquire about the sequence of events.

The team also checked the pictures of the policemen who had visited Rahul's residence a couple of days ago and enquired about the colour of Congress leader's eyes and hairs.

However, the Delhi Police said it was a routine security enquiry and that there was no malafide intention behind it.