ACP Vivek Bhagat
| Photo Credit: ANI
Amid protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) is caught in the eye of a storm on the charges of sexual assault against women. Vivek Bhagat, presently posted as Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) in Connaught Place, has come under intense scrutiny after three women journalists accused the cop of sexually assaulting them during the recent CEC protests in Delhi.
Who is Vivek Bhagat
Vivek Bhagat, posted as SDPO in Connaught Place police station, is a 2018-batch IPS officer. Mr. Bhagat was among 12 DANIPS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Police) Service officers) assigned as the current duty charge of additional DCP.
After the sexual assault allegations were raised, the Delhi Police said three complaints have been received and have been transferred to the Crime Branch for inquiry on October 4.
Amid the row, the accused official, an Assistant Commissioner of Police rank officer, was promoted to the rank of Additional Deputy Commissioner of police on Monday (October 5) in an order signed by the Deputy Secretary (Home) Ramesh Kumar. ACP Bhagat subsequently requested that he not be given the current duty charge until a full enquiry into the allegations of harassment of women journalists was completed.
Several media reports also suggest that Mr. Bhagat was deployed for crowd control measures during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests in July, demanding the resignation of former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Women journalists’ allegations against Bhagat
On October 3, three women journalists alleged sexual harassment by police personnel, while they were reporting a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Jantar Mantar. The trio demanded the Delhi Police to transfer their complaints to Crime Branch for an impartial enquiry, as per a PTI report.
In response, the New Delhi district police said it received complaints following the alleged incidents during the protest, when police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order. “The Crime Branch will examine the allegations and record statements of the complainants and other persons concerned as part of the enquiry”, the officer said.
A woman journalist told PTI that she and others subsequently went to a police station to lodge a complaint, but no FIR was filed.
“Police personnel were detaining protesters, and there were no women police personnel present at the spot. I asked ACP Vivek Bhagat of the Delhi Police about the absence of women police personnel, following which he sexually assaulted me and pushed me back,” she alleged.
Expressing ‘shock and dismay’ over the police’s treatment of women journalists covering the protests, the Press Club of India urged the Delhi Police to act on the complaint immediately.
“Behaviour of this kind cannot be normalised in a democracy. Journalists must be allowed to work freely, without fear, and document those who gather to raise various issues. That this is not being allowed even at the heart of the national capital does not bode well for the trajectory of media freedom in India,” it said in a statement.
“The Delhi Police must immediately act on the female journalist’s complaint and ensure that it gives media persons the space to do their jobs without having to face aggression and threats,” it added.
Bhagat’s request to keep the order on hold
Following the allegations, Mr. Bhagat has written to Delhi Police Chief, asking to keep the order concerning him on hold until the completion of the enquiry.
In a letter addressed to Commissioner of Police Anurag Kumar on Wednesday (October 7, 2026), he wrote, “However, considering the enquiry pending against me in the Crime Branch Delhi Police regarding allegations against me by a YouTuber, I hereby give my consent to keep this order concerning only me on hold”.
The government also clarified that the proposal to confer the additional duty charge on the 12 officers, including Mr. Bhagat was initiated on August 25, “much before the present set of events”, and the orders were issued after due approval on October 5.
Following the crime branch enquiry, the government subsequently said the earlier order would be modified and reissued for assignment of the charge to the remaining 11 officers.
Published – October 08, 2026 02:11 pm IST
