There are possibilities of the repeat of the Mumbai pizza incident in Kochi. Despite the home delivery facilities becoming much sought-after, agencies, including the police, hardly have any details of the delivery people.
Tommy Sebastian, Assistant Commissioner, Special Branch, said that they do not have records or other database about the delivery people but it was high time something was done about it. Police officials said that they could be brought under surveillance of police and labour departments with the cooperation of hotels. “Home delivery facilities are being provided by most hotels in the city. They cater mostly to those in the IT sector including women. But by pretending to be home delivery boys, anyone can easily trespass into the house. Such cases have not been reported in the city but one can never say. There are over 1,000 delivery boys in the city. Even the labour department does not have any details about them,” police officials said.
They said the delivery boys were usually booked for over-speeding or for absence of safety gears or licence. They often break speed limits due to the nature of their work.
What is worrying is that several people from other states are employed as delivery boys due to dearth of local workers. “We don’t think hotel owners probe their background. There are instances when people involved in criminal activities seek safe cover in the state. Even though the police had launched a project to register them and issue identity cards, it failed,” police officials said.