Chennai’s new Police commissioner takes charge, vows to bring ‘rowdies to their knees’.

A Arun succeeds Sandeep Rai Rathore, who was transferred on Monday, days after the brutal killing of a BSP leader in the city. A Arun, Chennai’s new Commissioner of Police, on Monday asserted that he will bring ‘rowdies to their knees’ as he took charge as the city’s new police chief following the departure of Sandeep Rai Rathore, who was transferred earlier in the day, in the wake of the brutal killing of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader last week. “The criminal elements will be taught in a way they understand,” Arun told reporters in an interaction shortly after taking charge. The senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was then asked if ‘encounters’ could be expected. “There is no such things as an encounter,” he responded, adding that ‘regular and professional policing’ will bring down criminal activities in Tamil Nadu’s capital city. The new Commissioner of Police also assured that he will take action against ‘corrupt activities’ in the police department. “Law and order maintenance, prevention of crimes, and proper investigation of crimes, and curbing rowdyism, are my priorities,” Arun said. He further assured that he will get a ‘good name’ for the state government and chief minister MK Stalin. Also, while the IPS officer did not speak much on the murder of K Armstrong, the BSP’s Tamil Nadu unit chief, he cited ‘statistics’ to claim that there has been a decline in murder cases in Chennai, and across the state. “We will see if there were lapses and take action accordingly,” he stated when asked if there was prior intelligence of threat to the life of the slain politician. Prior to his appointment as Chennai’s Commissioner of Police, A Arun was serving as the city’s Additional Director General (ADGP), Law and Order. Meanwhile, Sandeep Rai Rathore, the former’s predecessor, has been made DGP, Police Training College, with additional charge as ADGP/Director of the Tamil Nadu Police Academy.