Special Commissioner Hassan takes charge as Delhi Police chief spokesperson

Two days after Alok Kumar Verma's appointment as the Delhi Police chief, Special Commissioner of Police Taj Hassan on Wednesday took additional charge as the chief spokesperson -- a first in Delhi Police.

Hassan, a 1987 batch IPS officer, was already handling a key assignment in the national capital as a Special Commissioner (Crime). He will now handle the additional charge with the assistance of the present spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajan Bhagat.

Bhagat has been serving as a spokesperson of Delhi Police -- an additional charge -- since 2006.

Hassan, who formally took over the new charge on Tuesday in pursuance of an order by Police Commissioner Verma, clarified that Bhagat will assist him and he has not been replaced.

This is the first major change in the force after Verma took charge as chief of the over 80,000 strong Delhi Police force.

Hassan, who has earlier served as the chief of the traffic department of Delhi Police and joint commissioner of security unit among other important positions, clarified that the post was created to share clear and timely information with the media.

In his media interaction as a chief spokesperson, Hassan said on Wednesday that both he and Bhagat will share information with the media equally.

Asked if other senior officers of Delhi Police will not disseminate information to the media, Hassan said: "All the DCPs and Joint CPs will also be available to respond to media queries."

"If other senior officers would not be able to inform media about any query over any issue due to any reason, I and Rajan Bhagat would always be available to share information," Hassan said.