Mumbai Police cracks down on wanted criminals

Police stations across Mumbai have been asked to prepare a list of 25 most wanted criminals in their jurisdiction, charge people under the Maharashtra Prevention Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act and get courts to declare absconding criminals proclaimed offenders and confiscate their property.

While handling crime in the city, the Mumbai Police has turned to the age-old adage of ‘prevention is better than cure’ as the Mumbai police commissioner along with other senior police officers have conceptualised a multi-dimensional approach to crackdown on the city’s most wanted and absconding criminals.

Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh. (HT PHOTO)

Not only have police stations across Mumbai been asked to prepare a list of 25 most wanted criminals in their jurisdiction, but they have also been asked to charge people under the Maharashtra Prevention Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act and to get courts to declare absconding criminals proclaimed offenders and confiscate their property.

The Mumbai Police has also decided to make habitual offenders execute a legal bond where the amount of bond will be calculated after taking into consideration the annual income of the family. Earlier, the offender could execute a legal bond by paying a sum of ₹10,000 to ₹15,000.

“A slew of measures has been planned to crackdown on wanted and absconding criminals. Every police station has been asked to prepare a list of 25 most wanted criminals in their jurisdiction and regularly update the list of anti-social elements,” said Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

The wanted and absconding criminals could be involved in heinous bodily offences, underworld activities, terror suspects, habitual criminals, economic offenders, cyber fraudsters among others.

“We planned to do the review as we found that the police stations had not reviewed its most wanted and absconding criminal list since many years. The idea is to launch a fresh action against such criminals,” said Vishwas Nangre Patil, joint commissioner of police, law and order.

Patil also said that a plan has been put in place to get courts to declare criminals who are absconding as proclaimed offenders under section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code which will allow the police to attach properties belonging to them. To ensure that the plan falls in place, dedicated teams will be formed at police station, zonal, region, city and state levels, he said.

“These dedicated teams will be entrusted with tasks of apprehending the wanted and absconding offenders and taking other necessary action. These teams would co-ordinate with each other through superior officers of additional commissioner and deputy commissioner ranks,” added Patil.

Apart from this, the Mumbai Police also plans to invoke the MPDA Act against anti-social elements and criminals as the act gives the commissioner of police powers to send a criminal behind bars for a period of two years.

A senior police officer said, “The commissioner has also instructed us to increase the amount of legal bond from the existing ₹10,000 or ₹15,000 for habitual offenders after calculating their annual income. Offenders will have to pay their yearly income as a legal bond from now on. This will become an effective deterrent.”

The humane side of Mumbai Police would also be showcased with the commissioner of police introducing a criminal adoption system. “Criminals who have been active in the past three years would be brought under its purview. Under this system, dedicated policemen at the police station level would encourage such people to get out of the crime world and will help them with rehabilitation. It’s a reformative, corrective and proactive policing scheme,” Patil said.