The Delhi Police on Tuesday tendered an apology to the Army veterans for using force on August 14 and urged them to call off their agitation over One Rank, One Pension (OROP) issue.
While addressing a press conference at Jantar Mantar here, Joint Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena said, “I want to speak on behalf of Delhi Police that we have full respect for Army servicemen and ex-servicemen. August 14 incident will not be repeated. We are here to provide them security.”
“What happened on 14th August was due to some confusion and misunderstanding, we are with you (ex-servicemen),” he added.
Meanwhile, the veterans who are still protesting at Jantar Mantar said that they are thankful to the Delhi Police but will not end their fast unto death.
Later, Major General Satbir Singh (retired), Chairman of Indian ex-servicemen Movement, met Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Nripendra Misra but there was no positive outcome.
The Major General (retired) said that Misra asked for time till August 25 to finalise the OROP scheme and its implementation and if there is no announcement till then, then a group of ex-servicemen will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day later on August 26.
Earlier in the day, stepping in to pacify the agitating ex-servicemen, Prime Minister’s Office held talks with representatives of the protesters who have agreed not to escalate their agitation for next 10 days.
