Tech city adopts ancient practice to fight crime

Tech city adopts ancient practice to fight crime
Daily News and Analysis

Bangalore police decides to evict criminals from the city



Law keepers in India’s tech hub are adopting an ancient practice to check crime in this digital age - banish criminals. The police, irked by criminals and rowdies continuing their nefarious activities, despite the best effort to check crime, are now taking this desperate action.
Police find that the outlaws come out on bail and become active, thanks to their biggest lure; the booming real estate in the IT city. The cases of tech workers being robbed also have been on the rise.
The criminals became active after the police decided not to get involved in civil disputes, which include land deals, and instead focus on maintaining law and order and checking crime. Now, a list that contains 22 notorious elements is being prepared by the police to banish from the city for at least a year.
“They will be thrown out of the city after a trial. Normally, it is for a year and the police across the state and other states will be informed of this action,” Bangalore Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) M C Narayana Gowda told DNA.
Section 54 of the Karnataka Police Act empowers the police commissioner to conduct a trial and banish criminals who he feels are fit to be thrown out for indulging in unlawful activities. The act of 1963 says the commissioner, who dons the role of a magistrate, can send a notice to the person who is to be banished or announce to the public by drumbeating , before he is evicted from the city. The police can decide on the period of exile. “Our officers in the field have given credible inputs on the anti-social elements in the list,” Gowda said.
With Bangalore turning into a hotspot for real estate investors, both local and foreign, property prices are shooting skyward. Besides, the tech hub’s highly paid coders and back office workers are buying apartments and houses. The archaic land registration system has lured criminal elements to exert influence in property disputes and earn handsome returns.
“With property disputes treated as civil cases, the hands of the police are tied. The criminal elements are getting into land dealings and sometimes even by force,” police sources said. The police will soon submit a report to the courts seeking its permission to expel the criminals. “You can see that the list will grow further,” Gowda said.