Operation history sheeter to crack down on repeat offenders

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police will soon launch “Operation HistorySheeter”, a first of its kind initiative, that will aim to curb crime in the city by cancelling the driving licence of seasoned criminals.

The police believe that cancelling the driving licence of criminals will bring down their easy movement in the capital and thus lead to a drop in cases of snatchings and robbery.

“My idea of launching Operation History-Sheeter is to curb the easy movement of criminals in the city through the process of cancelling their driving licence,” special commissioner of police (traffic) Muktesh Chander said. “The operation is in the initial stage and we are taking the help of the transport authority and local police to make it effective,” he said. Chander said the traffic police have compiled a list of over 6,000 history-sheeters — an Indian police term for criminals with long record of serious crimes — with the help of local police.

“Right now we are planning to send the criminal history details of history-sheeters to the Delhi transport authority with a request to cancel their driving licences promptly,” Chander said.

“Once the transport department issues notices to these offenders, we will send policemen to ensure that the offenders submit their licences to the officer,” he said.

According to Delhi Traffic Police, there is a provision in section 19 1(a) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, under which habitual criminals can be disqualified from holding a driving licence, but it is hardly put to use.

“The provision was introduced to deal with habitual criminals so that they cannot easily escape after committing a crime,” a police official said. Chander said the idea to make use of section 19 1(a) clicked in his mind when a man sent video footage of a chain snatcher on the Traffic Police’s WhatsApp number — 8750871493 — last month. The vehicle number of the chain snatcher was clearly visible in the footage, based on which the police managed to get his address and he would be arrested soon, said Chander. As soon as the cancelled driving licence of a criminal is inserted inside the e-challan machine it will show up his criminal history which has already been uploaded in the central computerised police data base.