How do Delhi Police safeguard expensive items seized from criminals?

Police in Central Delhi seized gold and diamond pieces worth nearly ₹6 crore. How are these items stored in custody and what happens to them once the case is disposed of? HT explains.

A malkhana (storeroom) is a room in police stations where items seized from criminals are kept before they are either destroyed or returned to their rightful owners.

On the back of such cases, often reported in the media, some police officers do not take any chances and keep the money in bank accounts opened for that express purpose.  (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The items in a malkhana are usually the same at every police station — pistols, knives, liquor bottles, drugs, cell phones, and various household items. Every evening, when office hours for clerical staff are over at the police station, the room is locked.

But at a police station in Central Delhi, things are different. There is a police officer standing guard around the clock. Even if he has to step out for an emergency, another officer will take his place. Security is most important for this room because it contains among many non-descript items valuables like gold and diamond pieces weighing about 6 kg that the police recently seized from robbers on September 1. The police estimate the value of these pieces to be around ₹5.5-6 crore.

While small jewellery items such as bracelets (recovered from snatchers or house burglars) are common in malkhanas, it is rare for police stations to have such expensive case property, as these items are called.

“The jewellery can be released and handed back to the victim only on the court’s directions. Until then, we have to keep it safe. It is in our custody,” a police officer said, adding that keep them secure is a priority.

How do the police ensure the safety of these expensive items in storerooms? What other items of high value are kept at police stations? HT spoke to different police officers to find out.

A mid-level police investigator, who asked not to be named, said “Irrespective of the amount or value, recovered items are kept in the station's malkhana. In the case of such expensive jewellery, one or two officials are deployed in addition to the usual. This is just a precaution we take. A police station is a safe place. There are always police personnel around the office area or in the barracks, where they live.”

While there are no recent cases of items being stolen from malkhanas in Delhi stations, such instances have been reported from police stations in other states. In December 2020, around 100 kg of gold that the Central Bureau of Investigation kept for safekeeping in a private company's locker was reported missing. In April 2019, around ₹2.97 lakh in cash went missing from the malkhana of a Chandigarh police station.

In some cases, police also use the locker facilities of private banks. “Each police district has a tie-up with a private bank in their area. If we feel that the gold or diamond items recovered in a case require extra safety, we put them in bank lockers and take them out only during court proceedings," said another investigator.

Explaining the procedure to release such recovered items, another officer said that once the police recover an item, they have to present it before the court after which the court decides whether to release it to the victim or not.

“The victim or complainant has to file an application for its release. Usually, the release of case properties takes time but in the case of expensive recovery or high amount of cash, the court sometimes orders its release to the victim, after which it is handed over to them," an officer said.

During a stock-taking exercise of the storerooms across 168 police stations in 2020, malkhanas had an inventory of around 700,000 liquor bottles and 29,000 kg of seized drugs. Liquor bottles are the most common items found in the malkhanas. In 2018, an inquiry was ordered against police personnel in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly after they claimed that 1,000 litres of seized liquor was missing – allegedly because rats had drunk it.

On the back of such cases, often reported in the media, some police officers do not take any chances and keep the money in bank accounts opened for that express purpose. A standing order was also issued in November last year by the Delhi police headquarters, making it mandatory for the police to deposit cash as fixed deposits if the amount is large.

In June last year, the Patel Nagar police recovered ₹5 crore from two hawala operators and the money, an investigator said, was kept in the bank as deposits. “The interest will be deposited to the government exchequer. It is case property. The rules do not allow police to invest the money or get interest. We do it only for the safety of the case property,” a third police officer said.

Retired Delhi police officer LN Rao, who worked in the force for more than three decades and retired in 2014 as the deputy commissioner, said, "There are strong rooms and special almirahs for valuable case properties like jewellery and huge cash recoveries. I remember, during my time, we used to keep such valuables in strong rooms. An officer of head constable or assistant sub inspector rank is responsible for their safety.”

Rao said there courts can also release case properties – but on the condition that the items will be produced in court during the trial and cannot be tampered with. It has to be in the same form as it was at the time of the crime.