HYDERABAD: While the Telangana police can pat its back for solving some of the most sensational crimes in record time, it is the serial offenders which continue to evade its fangs. Multiple incidents of repeat offenders who continue to be involved in fresh crimes are proof. The most recent incident being the Hajipur rapes and murders, where the chief accused had already committed a murder years ago, managed to remain low for a few years and make a come back only in 2019.
Many of these past offenders, which include those detained under the Preventive Detention Act, go on to commit crimes once they are released on bail. In another instance of the notorious gangster Nayeemuddin, alias Nayeem, whose family members continue to indulge in extortion and land grabbing cases. This, after they were released on bail.
The protocol, officials tell Express, is that every time a person is arrested, the concerned station house officer (SHO) is supposed to inform the in-charge of the police station of the accused’s hometown, so that when ever he returns to his hometown, that they can stay alert The same procedure is followed when a case sheet of serious crimes is first opened against an accused. Once they get all the details, the accused’s hometown police becomes responsible for continuing the sheet and monitoring the accused’s movements.
A good example may be the case of Bharath Kumar alias Motilal, who was arrested by the Hyderabad police in 2016 and detained under PD act. However, he was caught again by the Rachakonda police for a house burglary in April 2019 and was recently detained under PD act again.
It is learnt that the procedure of communication between police stations, is not being followed properly by many SHOs in the State. This is allowing many offenders, including those involved in heinous offences like murder, rape and other bodily offences in other areas, get off scott-free in their hometowns. Some of them even use this lapse in the police system to indulge in civil disputes, illegal land settlements, et cetera.
Due to a lack of communication of older offences, the local police is clueless of the antecedents of serial criminals. Thus, the accused manages to escape easily. Some of the offenders even take a break immediately after their release on bail. However, they restart their operations in areas where their identity is not known, say police officials.
This can be clearly seen in the case of Marri Srinivas Reddy, the main accused in the Hajipur serial rapes and murders. A few years back, Reddy was involved in a murder case in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. He had halted all criminal acts and had gone quiet for quite sometime after his release in the murder case. This was only till he unleashed himself this year on his own village. He raped, killed and buried two minor girls in agriculture well in his own fields. He was earlier involved in a sexual harassment case filed against him by a woman from his own village, but the case was compromised at the Lok Adalat. After this, he was never under the police radar which he took as an opportunity to commit more heinous offences.