Number of missing criminals decreases by 1,500 in 3 months

In a special drive initiated by the state government, the number of absconding and missing persons has decreased by more than 1,500 in three months.

In a special drive initiated by the state government, the number of absconding and missing persons has decreased by more than 1,500 in three months.

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Also, the state government is working on setting up a Crime and Criminal Network System (CCNS) to connect all the police stations in Maharashtra.

The Bombay high court was informed on Monday by public prosecutor Ajey Gadkari that they have initiated a special drive to reassess cases from June 1, which will go on till June 30.

The number of absconding accused became a major concern after it was found that more than 22,000 were not traceable, of which 14,474 were absconding from the city alone.

“In this drive 8,000 cases have been reassessed. The police re-arrested 571 accused from Mumbai and 911 from across the state; 108 were found dead,” said Gadkari.

Gadkari said that their report on the special drive would be compiled by July 7. The high court has kept the matter for hearing on July 11. On a court query, Gadkari said that the CCNS was a national initiative too and was being implemented by the central government.

“The system will be started throughout India. All the states have been asked to set up basic infrastructure till then,” said Gadkari. The high court had taken up suo motu (on its own) cognisance of accused — Ramzan Sabit Hussain — who had been untraceable after the court cancelled his bail in 2003. Hussain was convicted in 1993 in a murder case.

The court had later clubbed the issue of missing persons after several habeas corpus (produce person in court) petition were filed.