Bhopal, Dec 29 (Inditop.com) The Madhya Pradesh police will henceforth treat all complaints as first information reports (FIRs) and all formalities related to registration of cases would be completed quickly, state Home Minister Umashankar Gupta said Tuesday.
“The state government was already thinking along these lines and the matter was being discussed with top police officers,” Gupta told Inditop. The issue of police not registering cases after receiving a complaint has come to the fore because that was what happened after the molestation of 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra by a senior police officer.
Gupta however said reports about police not registering cases were an old phenomenon.
Media reports have said the central ministry of home affairs (MHA) has decided to issue a nationwide circular asking states to treat all complaints received by the police as FIRs.
“Avoiding registration of FIRs is a common phenomenon in all the states to conceal the exact figures of crimes that are actually committed. One reason behind this attitude of the police was that when all the crimes are registered, the media starts writing that crime in the state is increasing. My opinion is that the people should get relief at all costs even if it means that crime in the state is increasing,” Gupta said.
The home minister reiterated: “Though the circular of the central government is yet to be received by the state, the Madhya Pradesh police will ensure registration of all complaints as FIRs.”
The minister said that the police would also be asked to check misuse of this directive. “If the complaint is found to be false, police can always drop the FIR. But that should not be a deterrent in registering genuine complaints as FIRs,” said Gupta.
“A case will also be registered against the complainant if it is found that he/she has lodged a false complaint,” he said.
Gupta confirmed that the director general of police (DGP) has been asked to set up a special cell to investigate unsolved cases of heinous crimes that have taken place in the past six months in the state. He said that this will yield positive results and the confidence of the public in the police will increase.
Gupta has directed the DGP to review investigations of cases relating to murder, rape, dacoity, looting, abduction and theft which are yet to be solved and apprise him of the progress.
