Police compile details of 4,500 history- sheeters

NAVI MUMBAI: In an effort to increase the detection rates by keeping a tab on habitual offenders, the Navi Mumbai crime branch i s preparing individual files of more than 4,500 history- sheeters.

Photographs, address, educational qualification and records of each criminal arrested in the city or in the neighboring areas such as Mumbai, Thane and Raigad in the past few years will be compiled in one file.

This will make it easier for the police to get all details after the arrest.

“The police are also collecting the names of people a criminal was involved with. This will help them zero in on the entire gang if they manage to nab any one of their members,” a senior police officer said.

For the convenience of investigating officers, criminals have been listed under different categories such as robbery, burglary, chain snatching and vehicle theft.

“Normally, criminals, after their arrest, try to mislead the police by giving wrong details about themselves and their accomplices. Many of them don’t even tell us their real names at first. At times even after arresting the right person, our investigation does not progress and we can’t reach out to other people involved in a crime,” said Dilip Sawant, deputy commissioner of police ( crime).

“Likewise, if we arrest one habitual offender from Thane or Mumbai for the first time, we may not have any idea about his or her previous crimes. So, those crimes may remain undetected even after the arrest. This new system will help us a lot as we will get all details of a criminal within a fraction of minute,” he said.

Sawant said the files are being prepared by examining cases registered with police stations and sharing details with the neighboring police commissionerates.

A team of dedicated officers have been entrusted with the tusk which is so far done with around 2,100 files.

“For our convenience, we are also planning a digital version of the whole system. It will save time in finding details and will make investigations f aster. The system will also help us in character verification of the people,” he said.

The police have also planned to open a separate office for their modus operandi bureau (MOB) to keep the active criminals in check. They will take fingerprints and photographs of criminals in the office just after the arrests.

Sawant said, “Taking photographs and fingerprints of every arrested person may not be possible as their number will be too big. However, we will do it with those with criminal records.”

› Criminals, after their arrest, try to mislead the police by giving wrong details about themselves and their accomplices. Many of them don’t even tell us their real names at first. Even after arresting the right person, our investigation does not progress. DILIP SAWANT, deputy commissioner of police (crime)