Team Herald
MARGAO: Superintendent of Police South Arvind Gawas has expressed happiness over the fact that the tenant verification process undertaken by the police is showing results with quite a number of migrants with criminal antecedents fleeing the state.
“The moment the migrants realise that police are checking their antecedents, they leave Goa and go somewhere else,” he said, while disclosing that many times when the police go to collect the information about the tenant, the owner informs that the tenant has left the room.
South Goa Police have intensified the whole process of tenant verification and the same is reviewed at the weekly meeting the SP holds with police inspectors of the 14 police stations under his jurisdiction leaving aside the Konkan Railway Police Station.
During the current year as on April 26, South Goa police have sent 25,873 tenant verification forms to the respective police stations outside Goa as against the 16,457 that were sent in 2017.
What is more interesting to note is that of 1,187 verification forms received from the concerned police stations only three were found to be having a criminal record with assault cases booked against them.
While one person with an assault case booked against him was registered by Fatorda police, it is now noted that the case that was booked by Margao Town police has since been compounded. Two persons with assault cases against them were registered by Canacona police and trial in both the cases is still pending.
Interestingly, the police have booked 394 cases against landlords for not furnishing tenant verification forms of people staying in their premises but action against them is pending as there is confusion as to which authority should take action against the landlords.
It may be recalled that the South Goa Collector had issued an order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code making it mandatory for people to collect photo identity proof of any person they allow to stay in their premises and violation of this will be registered as case under Section 188 of the Criminal Procedure Code under disobedience of order promulgated by public servant.
Last year, 746 such cases were registered and this year as on April 29, 394 cases have been registered. This has put pressure on people renting out their premises to migrants to provide photo identity proof of the occupants.
SP Gawas is all geared up to take action against land owners for renting out their premises to migrants as soon as the authorities decide as to who should be the penalising authority.
