HYDERABAD: A new report after a fact finding mission by eight activists on the recent cordon and search operations held in Hyderabad found that after deploying large platoons of police and seizing over 425 vehicles, the police only found ganja in one auto-rickshaw and gutkha (banned tobacco product) and rolling papers (use for consumption of drugs) from a few paan shops. This was found after the fact-finding team visited two of the locations which were searched by the police and analysed reports from nine other locations.
The team visited the Chandraiah Huts, Hanumanthu Huts and Narsaiah Huts in Malakpet and also Teegala Kunta area under Falaknuma police station limits over the past two weeks and established that the same pattern was being followed in both the cordon and searches with similar modus operandi being used of visiting homes, i.e., without prior intimation or showing warrant at early or late hours. “Most of the women were caught unaware and were both confused and afraid when the police barged in without notice or prior information,” the report said.
“The police dared to barge into the homes of these people overlooking all norms only because of their social strata. They have intruded in the privacy and dignity of these people fully aware of the impunity of their actions,” it added. At Chandraiah huts for instance, where predominantly members of the Madiga community (a Scheduled Caste community), the report found that the police enquired with the women whether ganja, water bottles (referring to liquor) and Goa (gutkha) were being sold there. The police also checked every nook and cranny of each hut, including the vessels, containers and cupboards.
‘Illegal searches’
The report used the words “illegal” to describe these searches by citing the laws used by the police itself. The report noted that based on the information obtained under RTI Act from the Hyderabad City Police, the police were allowed to conduct these searches under Section 94 of the CrPC.
The report stated that as per the law, Section 94 permits the ‘search of a place suspected to contain stolen property, forged documents’, allowing the district magistrate to authorise any police officer above the rank of constable to enter, search, take possession of any “objectionable items” using a warrant. However, the objectionable items to look for have been specified as counterfeit coins, notes, forged documents and seals, which weren’t what the police were looking for, the report mentioned. The report has also given seven demands, including stopping the operations and also stopping seizure of properties.
Taking info for profiling?
The report also found that in both places, not only were the Aadhaar cards of the residents checked, but the numbers were also noted down along with contact details which were fed into a ‘tab’. In some areas, phones were also checked along with trade licences and fingerprints were collected by the police, which raises suspicion of profiling. It might be recalled that in 2016, Hyderabad City Police had sought tenders for creating an Integrated Information Hub (IIH) for achieving the objective of 360-degree profiling of ‘persons of interest’. Previously, data privacy researchers like Srinivas Kodali have questioned the legality of the IIH.