Police to replicate ‘Criminal Adoption Scheme’ across Pune

The scheme was implemented in Kothrud, Warje Malwadi, Uttamnagar, Duttwadi, Sinhagad Road and Alankar police stations where criminals were identified and assigned to the respective police station house officers

PUNE: In a bid to combat the rising wave of crime, the Pune police will replicate their ‘criminal adoption scheme’ and implement several other measures to keep a check on criminals and their activities in the wake of gangster Sharad Mohol’s murder a few days ago.

The identified criminals were called to the respective police stations where their identity cards were printed and details such as whether they were wanted or absconding were provided to the concerned officials. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

Under the criminal adoption scheme, every ‘thane amaldar’ or police station house officer will adopt hardcore criminals in his/her area and keep an eye on these criminals on record to deter them from committing active crimes. The scheme - a brainchild of zonal DCP Shashikant Borate - was initially introduced in zone 3 in January 2023 and later extended to zone 4.

The scheme was implemented in Kothrud, Warje Malwadi, Uttamnagar, Duttwadi, Sinhagad Road and Alankar police stations where criminals were identified and assigned to the respective police station house officers. The identified criminals were called to the respective police stations where their identity cards were printed and details such as whether they were wanted or absconding were provided to the concerned officials. On their part, the police officials would visit the criminals’ homes and speak to their family members and neighbours and make an entry in the crime register about their visit.

DCP (crime) Amol Zende said, “The criminal adoption scheme has yielded good results since its implementation, and it is being implemented in the entire city. Once they are released from jail, the criminals might commit more crimes and hence, police station-level staff will be keeping a watch on the assigned criminals and gathering criminal intelligence on them on a regular basis. Besides, a visit to their homes ensures that their whereabouts are known all the time. Besides, it sends a message to them that they are under police surveillance. The scheme is aimed at making the city safe from criminal activities and is being carried out under the guidance of the city police commissioner.”

Under the scheme, 16 questions about the criminals’ most recent photographs, most recent Google Maps’ position of their homes, most recent activity, information about their parents, and other minutiae are obtained and updated in the police records.