Ahead of the Punjab assembly elections, police have started carrying out door-to-door verification to crackdown on wanted criminals.
Cops said the majority of the locals had not had their tenants, domestic help and workers verified. Most landlords claimed that they had rented the accommodation only a couple of days ago, and were “just about to contact the cops for verification,” others said that they had been out of town, and had just returned a couple of days ago, while some said they were unwell, and had therefore not decided against visiting police stations.
A section of landlords also pleaded ignorance about orders regarding mandatory verification of tenants, and house help, while some landlords, backed into a corner, claimed their tenants were their relatives, police officials said.
The police had initiated the verification drive on January 23 in areas with a large migrant population, including Focal Point, Basti Jodhewal, Salem Tabri, Daba, Giaspura, Sahnewal, Dhandhari, Mundian and Jamalpur. The areas have a number of labour quarters, and 10 to 50 families reside in one building.
After repeated incidents of robberies and burglaries by domestic help, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Varinder Singh Brar has ordered police verification of employees, and domestic help before hiring them. He also ordered police verification of tenants.