Act or hand over Delhi police to us, Kejriwal to PM

Making a strong pitch for handing over Delhi police control to city government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday sought a meeting with the prime minister and lt governor in the wake of gangrape of two minor girls in Delhi.

The chief minister hit out at Delhi police saying it had "completely failed" to provide safety to the citizens, while urging PM Narendra Modi to "either act himself" or give Aam Aadmi Party government the authority over law and order in the capital.

"PM sir, give control of Delhi police to del govt for one year. If situation does not improve, take it back...Seeking time to meet LG n PM to discuss women safety in Delhi," he said in a series of tweets.

In a major embarrassment for the city, two minors were brutally gangraped in the capital on Friday, incidents which come close on the heels of the rape of a four-year-old girl in northwest Delhi last week.

Kejriwal visited the hospitals where the victims werebeing treated and said that his government has the requisitefunds to take over the control of police and provide security.

"The Central government is saying they don't have money to spend on Delhi police which has 16,000 vacancies. Then why are they keeping the police under them? Give us the control of Delhi police. We have the funds and we are ready to provide security to the citizens of Delhi," he told media.

Taking a grim view of the cases, he said, "Repeated rape of minors is shameful and worrying. Delhi police has completely failed to provide safety. What is the PM and his LG doing?"

Kejriwal said that Modi is "answerable" if he wants police to be under Centre's control and requested him to meet Jung, who he said, was keener on "interfering in the AAP government's work".

"The only task left with LG and Delhi police is to interfere in our work. Rather they should focus on the safety and security of women in the capital," he added.

AAP has been at loggerheads with Delhi police over a number of issues, with the party accusing the force of bias against it on several occasions.