17 December,2011 06:34 AM IST | | Vinay Dalvi
Adopting a novel 'carrot-and-stick' method, the Mumbai police will send money orders to the residences of criminals on the run, and nab them the moment they emerge to receive the amount from the postman
The Mumbai police have now come up with an ingenious, if not a tad bit expensive, new modus operandi to nab criminals who are skulking around in the underbelly of the city, having evaded the long arm of the law the lure of unexpected money.
The Crime Branch has given various other suggestions like posing
as LIC agents, SRA agents, census officers or rationing officers
to nab the criminals
Cops will now send fortuitous money orders their way, follow close on the heels of postmen delivering it, and nail the criminals the minute they step out to sign the receipt slips and collect the money.
More than 16,000 accused are wanted by the Mumbai police in connection with various crimes. Some are escaped convicts, while others are undertrials out on bail, who have been missing their court hearings.
Under the usual procedure, teams of local cops visit the residences of the accused, but more often than not, return empty-handed the wanted criminals are alerted by their family members whenever a cop approaches their residence, and flee immediately.
"A nominal amount of money will be sent to the addresses available in our records. Once the accused emerge to collect the money, the constables waiting in ambush nearby will nab them," said an officer from the Mumbai police.
"It's basically a carrot-and-stick policy: we offer money to motivate the accused to emerge from his hideout, and nab him immediately.
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The Crime Branch has given us various other suggestions like posing as LIC agents, SRA agents, census officers or rationing officers to nab the criminals. Usually when officers from the local police stations make official visits in their uniform, the criminals manage to escape," said the police officer.
"Many of the criminals manage to go out on parole for a while, but never return. With the help of these initiatives, it will become easy to nab them," said another police officer.
16,000
The number of accused that are wanted by the Mumbai police
