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Hyd cops criticised for checking mobile phones as part of crackdown on narcotics
One of the cops, who took part in the checking of vehicles and mobile phones, said the drive had been going on for the last few days and would continue for one more month.
The Hyderabad Police came under criticism for checking the mobiles phones of people in the city as part of their crackdown on drug peddling.
A video of some cops stopping vehicles in some parts of the old city of Hyderabad, asking people to show their mobile phones and checking their contact info and text messages, went viral on social media on Thursday.
When contacted, Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar said as per his knowledge, the video was three years old and the checking of vehicles and mobiles might have been done as part of investigation related to any crime.
He, however, said there was nothing unusual in the police checking mobile phones of people when there was any specific information about any particular crime.
Inquiries, however, revealed that the video was a recent one, as it showed the cops searching vehicles and checking mobile phones were wearing masks as part of Covid-19 protocol. The police commissioner did not respond on this latest video.
One of the cops, who took part in the checking of vehicles and mobile phones, said the drive had been going on for the last few days and would continue for one more month. “We are checking mobile phones to get any leads on drug peddling,” he said, adding that the searches were going on in three shifts.
A senior police official said on condition of anonymity that the checking of vehicles and mobile phones was being done as part of preventing the trade and peddling of narcotic substances. “There is no big issue, as the people are cooperating. So far, we could not find any cases of drug smuggling,” he said.
People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) leader and advocate Jaya Vindhyala said it was illegal on the part of the Hyderabad Police to look into mobile phones in the name of obtaining information on drug peddling.
“It is against the Right to Privacy, which is also a fundamental right of an individual, but the police will give it a different interpretation. But they should go as per the procedure, if they really want to check mobile phones. They should first issue notices to them asking them to show their phones. They cannot force the people to part with their mobile phones,” she said.
The Hyderabad police also came under trolling on social media for checking mobile phones of the people. “New policing practices alert: stop and search phone chats by the @hydcitypolice. Police are searching phone chats for words like ganja. Wait until they replace them with words like NRC, Modi or BJP,” tweeted one netizen.
Another citizen asked: “Is it legal? How can police randomly check phones without any order from court? Not sure an order from police department to their team is legal (sic).”
