Drive to identify proclaimed offenders

PATIALA, July 19: The Patiala district police have launched a verification campaign in respect of terrorists who have either been bailed ...

PATIALA, July 19: The Patiala district police have launched a verification campaign in respect of terrorists who have either been bailed out or discharged by courts. A similar campaign is also underway to identify proclaimed offenders involved in thefts, robberies and dacoities during the last decade as the police have information of involvement of a large number of these persons in criminal activities now.

Stating this while talking to ENS here yesterday, Senior Superintendent of Police Parampal Singh Sidhu said that 40 per cent of verification work had been completed and the remaining verification

was expected to be completed by the month-end. The police were securing photographs and finger prints of these persons and preparing separate files which could serve as ready reckoners for solving criminal cases like robberies and thefts. Even the public could help in identifying the criminals with the help of the photographs which would be available in the files.

Sidhu said that lists of terrorists who had been discharged and bailed out had been made and their present occupation, activities and old hideouts were being checked. In some cases, he said, it was found that certain proclaimed offenders were found to be involved in criminal activities.

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The SSP said that he had held a meeting with police officers of the district, including Station House Officers (SHOs), to review the prevailing law and order situation in the district.

He directed the SHOs to ensure that “thikri pehra” in villages was also organised and that they should have a close coordination with members of the public. The field officers of the police should hold maximum number of meetings in their areas to instill confidence among the public, he added.

The district police chief claimed that there had been no rise in crime graph in the district and the law and order situation was fully under control. The police were working on different clues to solve the recent cases of robberies in the peripheral colonies of the city, he added.

Sidhu said that field officers had been directed to check absenteeism and enforce discipline among policemen.

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A special vigil was being kept on visitors to the terrorists lodged in jails. The antecedents of these persons were being verified by the police periodically and this had been yielding encouraging results, Sidhu said.