Mumbai: Complaints wait to become FIRs in headless Zone 2

Scores of shops at Zaveri Bazaar deal in precious metals and gems. File pic

Complaints have been mounting at police stations in Zone 2, but they cannot be converted into FIRs in the absence of a full-time deputy commissioner of police. The earlier DCP, Saurabh Tripathi, has been suspended after he was accused of extorting money from angadias. Zone 2 of the Mumbai police covers Pydhonie, LT Marg, VP Road, DB Marg, Gamdevi and Malabar Hill police stations. There are more than 1,100 shops dealing in gold, silver, diamond and platinum in Zaveri Bazaar, which mostly comes under LT Marg police station.

Sources at the Zaveri Bazaar Welfare Association told mid-day that hundreds of police complaints have been submitted to LT Marg police station since January. Most of these complaints pertain to cheating and fraud. Officers from Zone 2 said the complaints are only in double digits, but refused to share exact numbers. Police sources said the complaints related to criminal breach of trust and fraud are sent to zonal DCPs as their notings are required to convert them into FIRs (first information reports). An FIR sets the process of criminal justice in motion. It is only after the FIR is registered that the police take up the investigation of a case.

"We have forwarded all complaints to the acting DCPs but those complaints have not yet been converted into FIRs. We can't do anything till there is no full-time DCP in Zone 2," said an officer from a police station under Zone 2. The source from Zaveri Bazaar Welfare Association said the businessmen in the area are feeling insecure over the lack of action on complaints.

"There are many accused involved in more than one case. In one such case, an accused is arrested in one case and now he is getting judicial custody after serving police remand. But there are many complaints pending against the same accused. Since there is no fresh FIRs, the accused will go underground after he is granted bail and the cops will have to burn the midnight oil to trace him," said the source.

mid-day has learnt that the many businessmen from the association met senior police officers to request them to clear the pile of complaints coming from the bullion market. "It is the reason we have been pleading with senior officers to appoint a full-time DCP in Zone 2 so that our issues can be resolved. After Saurabh Tripathi was shunted out, the acting DCPs are not serious enough to handle Zone 2," said the source. "We have been assured that a new DCP will soon be appointed but no concrete date has been given to us," said the source.

Requesting anonymity, a jeweller at Zaveri Bazaar said, "Fraudsters open a shop and spread the message that businessmen can showcase their samples with them so that these can be sold to earn a profit. The fraudsters target many businessmen simultaneously and once a huge pile of samples is collected, they disappear. So, one can understand that the fraudster becomes wanted in many cases but if only one FIR is registered, and the applications of other victims are lying pending, the accused will definitely go underground."

Another jeweller said, "Almost a year ago, the previous DCP had decided that if an accused is named in more than five FIRs, he would be externed from the area. But Saurabh Tripathi did not pay heed to the decision taken by his predecessor and the initiative to extern history-sheeters was never executed…we have been at receiving end, as we can see a history-sheeter roaming in the market. The accused, who was arrested in one case and could have been made an accused in other FIRs had the complaints been translated into FIRs, is hatching plans to target another businessman in broad daylight."

mid-day has learnt that the additional deputy commissioner of police (south region) Dilip Sawant has asked the acting DCP Yogesh Kumar (HQ-2) to clear the pending complaints. "I will not be able to comment over the number of applications for FIRs and our internal communications," Kumar said.

1,100
Approx. no. of shops in Zaveri Bazaar