DGP urges stricter tenant & employee verification

NT Reporter | Panaji

In view of the recent dacoities, Director General of Police (DGP) Alok Kumar said the police are working to strengthen preventive measures, including community policing. He also said that “it is impractical to say criminal activities will end”.

Kumar said tenant verification and employee verification remain critical. “We request the public to cooperate with the police,” said Kumar during a media briefing on Thursday.

“Police conduct continuous tenant verification drives. Despite this, we see that there are many people who do not provide information about the tenants. This is a gap that can threaten security in the state,” said Kumar.

Referring to the Baina dacoity case, Kumar said, “One accused person was employed there. He collected all the information about how to enter the house, what is kept inside, etc. Based on this, the design of the crime was devised.”

“Sometimes you have an employee who has no criminal history. But if you have given his information to the police like his photographs, mobile number and home address, then it is helpful. This is a preventive step,” he added.

Kumar said the focus is on preventive measures that include increased police visibility, changes in nakabandi and patrolling patterns, and deployment of additional staff.

“In spite of police presence and visibility, it is impractical to say that the movement of criminals will end. However we are working on how to strengthen preventive measures,” said Kumar.

He said the focus is also on intelligence gathering.

“We are trying to improve the participation of the community on the information flow. There should be awareness in the community about security consciousness,” said Kumar.

The DGP said that if any “element” comes from outside, whether a tenant or an employee, “their information can reach us quickly”.

“If there is any suspicious movement in the area, their information should reach us quickly. Our focus will be on this,” said Kumar., admitting that trust also needs to be developed between police and the public. He added that various measures are in place in view of the tourist season.