The city police have booked more than 1,750 landlords for not getting their tenants screened by the department. Random checks were launched after cops analysed that unverified tenants were involved in many crimes.
Police say it becomes tough for them to crack such cases where the accused is not verified. It is mandatory for all landlords to get their tenants verified with the nearest police station. Screening of house help and employees too is mandatory in the city.
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Northeast Delhi tops the ignominious list with more than 375 defaulter landlords, followed by central with over 300 and south with more than 250 violators.
The initiative to scrutinise tenant verification came after a detailed report of crime record analysis was submitted to the top bosses of the Delhi Police.
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Sources said officials discussed how the lack of credential-check hampers investigation in cases. “The officials have observed that in many cases a tenant is behind the crime. Hence, all the DCPs were ordered to start a drive to check tenant verification,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
This year, Delhi Police personnel have visited more than two lakh houses, and in more than 1,750 cases the landlords have been booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. Any violation is punishable with one month of imprisonment or a fine of Rs 200, or both.
In many of the cases, instead of registering an FIR against the landlords, they were issued a final warning. Data also shows that cops have verified more than 50,000 tenants since January.
However, if sources are to be believed, hardly 10 per cent of the forms are verified by the department and all the remaining requests keep gathering dust. Though the Delhi Police itself makes announcements of getting a tenant or servant verified, especially during the festive season, but the cops often fail to follow up with the process.
When Mail Today asked about the process of tenant verification, it learnt that property owners are required to submit photograph, identity proof (passport, voter ID card, ration card, etc) and fill the form about their tenants.
“In general, the tenant hails from outside Delhi. So, to verify the documents enclosed with the verification form, it is not possible to send a cop to that particular place to establish whether the address mentioned is true or false,” a police official said.
“Most of the tenants hail from other regions, including the northeastern states. In this case verification is done with the help of state police. We send a request to the concerned police station of that state, and after few days they revert to our request mentioning whether the document submitted is genuine or not.”
Another senior police official, requesting anonymity, said they don’t receive much cooperation from counterparts in other states. “Out of 100 cases, we get replies in five to six cases from the state police. As we don’t have any other option to get the documents verified, we keep the form and the enclosed items mainly for the purpose of our records. But those documents are nothing more than scrap,” he said.
“It has been learnt that almost 90 per cent of the landlords have not opted for tenant verification. The remaining 10 per cent live in certain societies and apartments where tenant verification is mandatory.”
Despite several awareness campaigns, many property owners have seemingly not grasped the significance of tenant verification, said another official.
“It is a must especially in the capital, which is always on the target list of terror outfits. Besides, criminal elements have also been found living under pseudonyms to evade detection,” he said.
A landlord can either visit the area police station to get the verification form, or download it. After filling the basic details, the document has to be submitted at the police station.
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Source: India Today
