Mumbai: Cops fight accuseds' lies with biometric system

Naseeb Sarki gave his name as Naseeb Mohammed Khan and his real identity was revealed when police contacted his sister after he died

The police have found that a Muslim undertrial who died after falling sick, was actually a Hindu. He had given them a fake name. In the past one and half months, Byculla Jail officials have come across two such cases, wherein arrested accused used such names to mislead them.

The arrested accused identified himself as Naseeb Mohammed Khan, 29, and was sent to Byculla Jail. He fell sick and died at JJ hospital while undergoing treatment. It was later found that his name was Naseeb Mohankumar Sarki. In the second case, an HIV positive accused who was out on bail, was again caught for another offence and sent to Byculla Jail, under a new identity. However, staff exposed his lie.

How police nail the liar

While criminal lawyers feel giving a fake name might also be an attempt to send a proxy accused to jail, senior jail officials rubbished the same, stating that they have biometric systems, wherein thumb impressions of accused are taken and when an accused with a fake name arrives, the records alert about his/her earlier thumb impression.

Sarki was arrested while trying to steal a mobile phone on a train. He told Dadar police that he was Naseeb Mohammed Khan from Grant Road. He was produced before the Railway Court in CST, which sent him to magisterial custody in Byculla Jail on March 30. On April 8, he developed health problems and was shifted to JJ hospital, in a critical condition, and died during treatment. Surgeons ruled out foul play in the death and termed it natural.

The police informed Khan's relatives in Kolkata (the address was given by him when arrested) and his true identity was revealed when they contacted Saraswati Sarki, 47, his older sister who stays in Delhi. Saraswati said, "Naseeb was missing for past few years. He was married but his wife left him. They have a son. We had no clue he was staying in Mumbai."

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'Credentials verified'

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Railways) MM Makandar, talking about Sarki's case said, "I have charge of 10 railway police stations (Central and Harbour line) and have directed them to verify the credentials of the accused. Their details should be verified and also supported with documents like Aadhaar card etc."

Asked whether such fake names would mean that the bail bond and other judicial papers would also have bogus names, the DCP said, "We usually record basic information that the accused gives us soon after arrest. During investigation, when we get supporting documents, we make necessary mention in the records and charge sheet, which didn't happen in this case, as the Grant Road address was not correct."

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How biometrics help

Special IGP (Prisons) Rajvardhan Sinha pointed out that the prison information system helps them identify the real person. "We have the prison information system, wherein we have biometric finger prints of the prisoner when he first entered. Subsequently, if the names are changed, when the same prisoner enters the prison again, the system throws up the facts," said Sinha.

"Looking at the case in totality it is a doubtful FIR, where in the religion of the person arrested is not the same as claimed. The manner in which the relatives are traced is equally doubtful, as the police seldom manage to get the whereabouts of the kin of hundreds of unidentified bodies," said criminal lawyer Dinesh Tiwari.

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