Polnet delayed, kidnappings unchecked

With a special unit of the CBI reporting 30,000 thousand kidnappings of minor girls and identifying 470 gangs operating in Delhi and other parts of the country

With a special unit of the CBI reporting 30,000 thousand kidnappings of minor girls and identifying 470 gangs operating in Delhi and other parts of the country, the Government is yet to flag off its futuristic network 8216;Polnet8217;8212;intended to link police stations across the country for tracing victims and tracking down criminals.

If functional, the network would be used to flash out details of the kidnapping to various police stations, including description of the victim with photographs, demands of ransom, if any, and suspects under the scanner.

Although hailed as a 8220;collective endeavour8221; to clamp down on kidnappings, the project has not taken off due to lack of 8220;internal arrangements8221;. The Government had assured the Delhi High Court in a PIL that the project would be completed by March 2003, amicus curiae Rajeev Awasthi said today.

In 2000, the court had, in a suo motu, taken cognisance of a letter written by a senior citizen to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, pleading for information on the kidnapping of his seven-year-old grandchild from his Mongolpuri home in 1999. The letter was later converted into a PIL by the court.

The Delhi-based special unit of the investigating agency8212;christened Central Intelligence Cell CIC8212;was formed as a centralised database on the orders of the Delhi High Court to aid police forces collect information on kidnapping cases. Awasthi told the court that the CIC8212;which forms the 8220;core8221; of Polnet8212;was crippled by 8220;non-availability of funds and lack of required personnel strength of 50 personnel8221;.

8220;Despite its shortcomings, the CIC has already recorded in its database 30,000 kidnappings and identified 376 gangs involved in ransom kidnapping. 80 of these initiate their victims into prostitution and 14 into begging,8221; the amicus curiae submitted before a Bench led by Justice Mukul Mudgal.

8220;The fact that the Government has not activated the Polnet project ensures that these gangs are actively operating in various parts of the country. All this even after the name of every gang head was listed by the CBI before this court in its report in 2005,8221; Awasthi submitted.

Story continues below this ad

Awasthi also highlighted the 8220;lapse8221; shown by various states in setting up the necessary infrastructure and equipment for the Polnet project, despite the court having issued notices to the Chief Secretaries of all states in this regard. He said further that 8220;minor kidnapping cases are on the rise and some of these gangs in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are connected to political names8221;.

Responding to the amicus curiae8217;s contentions, the Government counsel said that Polnet was already in operation in 16 states, including Delhi.