The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Partners in abetting crime go scot-free Law and order

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Monday, Sep 01, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Partners in abetting crime go scot-free Law and order

Police arrest only persons ‘involved’ in the crime but what about persons who aid them, asks Marri Ramu

The law is clear that not just the persons committing a crime but those aiding them should also be brought to the book. Even the police higher-ups drive home this point in review meetings.

But this basic principle of administration of criminal justice is being followed more in breach than in practice if the ‘progress’ in investigation of some sensational crimes is any indication. A case in point is the credit card fraud invo lving usage of credit cards of others to pay bills of civic amenities recently busted by the Commissioner’s Task Force.

Some call centre executives fraudulently collected credit card details of their foreign clients. Using the database, they began to pay power bills and property tax through e-Seva’s online system. Through mediators, they approached persons having huge bills relating to civic amenities.

They collected half the bill amount from the ‘customers’ and cleared the dues online using the credit cards of others. Task Force officials then arrested seven youths before handing over them to Reinbazar police for further probe. Interestingly, months have passed but not a single person was arrested by the Reinbazar police.

This raises several questions. Police arrested only persons ‘involved’ in the fraud. But what about the individuals who aided them in perpetrating the crime by giving them half the bill amounts?

There is documentary evidence with addresses to trace the citizens whose bills are paid. Still, the investigators fail to nab them. Does that mean the persons who connived with the arrested youths to evade the bills are not guilty or the police have soft corner for them?

This is not an isolated case. The Task Force officials raised suspicions of possible complicity of the Transport Department staff after finding that some tricksters managed to secure original Registration Certificate (RC) books for stolen vehicles after busting a racket. Recently, the Cyberabad police arrested some persons in a similar case.

Theft of vehicles became a serious security issue following revelations that terrorists are stealing vehicles and planning to drive them into targeted places after filling them with explosives.

Terrorists might not be involved in the vehicle theft cases reported here. But surely it would help to plug loopholes in the system if investigators can find out who helped the offenders secure original RC books illegally.

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