HYDERABAD: Voices have been increasing against Telangana police's cordon and search operation, specifically regarding the ways in which it is conducted and the places where they are held, after the Aadhar citizenship row came to the fore.
Recently, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in a recent release after the controversy broke, sought to absolve itself of any blame and said that they were following up on reports made by the State police that around 127 people had allegedly obtained Aadhar based on false pretences.
The question here is, how do the police come to the conclusion whether Aadhar has been obtained illegally? Privacy activists and data security researchers say: Cordon and search -- apart from the instances of arrests made by police where they have said they were 'acting on tip-offs'.
"There are so many people in the city. How do the police get to know who has procured it illegally or not? They did it by doing cordon and search. This is a mode of surveillance police deploy which enables them to identify such," Srinivas Kodali, a city-based independent security researcher said.
SQ Masood, an activist, said, "Police has been separately asking for Aadhar during the operations. Not just that, citizens who visit restaurants at night are often stopped by police and asked for their Aadhar cards."
In recent times, the State police has conducted numerous such operations in the Old City area of the city, including in the Rohingya camp in Balapur. In such operations they ask them to show their identification cards, including Aadhar.
Such a case came into the fore recently, when AIMIM Charminar MLA Mumtaz Ahmed Khan was caught in a video reprimanding the police who was in the Shakkar Gunj area conducting a cordon and search operation. This happened duing the initial days of anti-CAA-NRC-NPR protests and it had ticked off citizens in the area.
In the video, Khan asked the police officers who claimed they were in the area to check vehicle ownership, "You are asking Aadhar card for that? Please leave. Do not do like this. Citizens are already confused and worried due to NRC."
However, how legal is this whole process? Not much, according to experts. Kodali said, "This is obviously not legal. The city police, despite being asked, is unable to furnish the sections under which they conduct cordon and search."
Even AIMIM chief Asaduddin OWaisi too had recently said, "@TelanganaPolice please stop asking for Aadhaar during your “search & cordon” operations. You’re not legally permitted to do so."