Claiming recovered goods set to get easier

Now,the Ghaziabad police is contemplating a special scheme to make return of stolen goods to their owners easier. On lines of a Karnataka Police system,the police here plan to hold a Property Return Programme every three months to return goods to owners.

“The goods recovered from thieves keep lying in the police station’s godown for years. Then,we hold an auction of the recovered vehicles and articles,” a senior police officer said.

Under the new programme,the police will advertise the recovered property so that the owners know their goods have been found. “We (will) also try to locate the real owner. The owner can take the property from us after getting due court orders and we would love to assist the owner,” the officer added.

Senior Superintendent of Police Raghubir Lal said the Karnataka Police claimed to have returned property worth Rs 53 crore to the complainants last year.

This is not the only new initiative that the Ghaziabad police is mulling.

They are also in the process of drafting a proposal to set aside a fund for police personnel who pay out of their pockets while investigating a case.

“Many a time,either the police or the complainant has to make arrangements to cover the expenditure on investigations. The existing law permits only travelling and daily allowances,which is inadequate to cover the expenses incurred.

The police is mulling sending the proposal of a separate budget for ‘expenditure on police investigations’ to the higher authorities,” the officer said.

To ensure that complainants can get their grievances registered easily,the police are considering a common point.

“We are planning to have a common place where a police personnel would give the complainant a computerised complaiant on the spot if he is being turned down by the local police station,” the officer added.