LUCKNOW: Despite stern directives to district police chiefs and senior cops, the Yogi government has not managed to put a leash on the uncontrollable surge of crime in the state. Now, the Balrampur police chief has come up with a novel idea called the ‘Mukhbir Rozgar Yojna’ (Informer Employment Scheme) to curb crime through a dependable network of informers who will be paid for their inputs.
In Balrampur in the Awadh region, around 160 km from the state capital Lucknow, Superintendent of Police Dev Ranjan Verma launched the initiative last month. The scheme woos informers by offering a substantial reward if the inputs shared by them prove to be true and the criminal is netted.
The poster about the scheme released by the SP has been doing the rounds on social media. It announces a cash reward of Rs 1000 each for sharing information about a vehicle lifted and a country-made pistol recovered. It also promises a cash reward of Rs 5000 for sharing inputs about illegal arms including a pistol or revolver.
“Ghar Baithe Hazaron Rupaye Kamayen. Mukhbir Rozgar Yojna,” reads the poster. It claims informers would be paid thousands of rupees for giving information about criminals to the Balrampur police and their identity would be kept secret. The CUG number of the Balrampur SP is mentioned on the poster to help informers call him up directly. Interestingly, the police department has promised informers either a cash reward or a bank transfer of the money depending on their wish.
The unique initiative is gaining popularity not only among the general public. District chiefs of adjoining districts are also taking a cue from it and are keen on implementing it.
While talking to TNIE, SP DR Verma said that he got the novel idea when he was approached by certain criminal elements who were ready to share information about their bête noire in the district. “I thought instead of being obliged to such elements, I can involve members of the public to get information, which, if established, could fetch the informer thousands of rupees from the Secret Service Fund (SSF) given to each SP by the government,” he said.
As a result, the cop got the stickers and posters printed and pasted at all possible public places to make people aware of the scheme. He even set up 13 Munadi (public announcement) teams across all police stations to promote the scheme. “Now we are going places, especially rural areas, with the initiative which is drawing a very encouraging response. The scheme is now yielding effective results as well,” he said
“Recently, a person got a reward of Rs 20,000 for informing the cops about the culprit who had looted Rs 75,000 from the salesman of a liquor shop,” he said. Another person got a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for
sharing information about spurious liquor worth Rs 17 lakh, he added.
So far around half a dozen cases of auto-lifting and illegal weapons have been solved through the network of informers in Balrampur.
SP Verma has also launched another novel scheme – Petrol Pump Security Scheme -- to control crime by deputing cops at all 50 petrol pumps across the district and rounding up criminals from there during routine checking of vehicles of those who come to take fuel.