Hyderabad: While some allege that the cordon and search operations of the police in Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Krishna district and some other districts of AP and TS violate the constitutional rights of citizens, the police brass says that all searches are carried out as per law.
Some people say that the police should not brand some places as 'criminal areas', but the top cops say that they focus on areas where criminals have taken shelter. Before starting an operation, a search warrant is issued based on inputs from crime staff. The CrPc allows the police to conduct searches to control anti-social elements and terror suspects.
Cyberabad police commissioner C.V. Anand said the police had conducted nine cordon searches and had arrested many suspects along with stolen vehicles, proving the efficiency of cordon and search.
Locals of Nandigama in Krishna district claimed that the police came without any warrant and raided the area. Nandigama DSP T. Radesh Murali said they had strong reasons to search there. “The colony is notorious for criminals and even the price of the land is affected by that. We caught at least nine criminals and recovered many vehicles without documents,” he said.
Earlier, T. Dhangopal Rao, a city resident moved the HC challenging the police action. He argued that the police action is against Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(d)(e)(g), 21 and 22 of the Constitution. But the court dismissed his plea and asked him to approach the police commissioner.
Responding to the issue, Mr C.V. Anand said the police has ensured that Sections 94, 97, 100, 102, 103 and 133 of CrPc are not violated while conducting searches. “An ACP or a Station House Officer has to get a warrant before conducting the search. The search memos are drafted and reasons are mentioned before obtaining the warrant,” said Mr C.V. Anand.
The Cyberabad police, which initiated the action, had prepared standard operation procedures for the cordon and search.
Top cops said the areas are selected based on tip offs and inputs from the crime team. Police usually conduct searches only in the early hours as that is the time most criminals are at home. “It’s not that we want to disturb the locality. The time is more apt to catch suspects,” said a senior police official.
Cyberabad police will continue searches in city:
The police is determined to continue cordon and search operations in the city. The government has also extended full support to this.
Cyberabad police started cordon and searches as per orders of the TS government to provide a sense of security to people. “If we had conducted a search in Abdullapurmet before the Dilsukh-nagar blasts we could have neutralised the plot as the terrorists were based there,” said a senior police officer. The police said that earlier they had caught ISI agents, Maoists and major criminals from the areas where they conducted searches.
Cyberabad police had made a list of places following intelligence inputs, on the city's outskirts where hundreds of criminals are staying. "There are many industrial areas in the city where many migrants from other districts of Telangana and AP and people from states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha etc are settled. Many come from outside reside in these cheap areas and commit thefts in the city. They leave soon after the offences," said a senior police official.
The operations in Hyderabad were similar to urban anti-Naxal operation. The police conduct an operation using three layers, a tactic that was used in urban anti-Naxal search operations. "In this operation, the specific area would be covered by the security force in three layers. They are called outer cordon, inner cordon and cut off points cordon. Nobody can escape at the time of search," said an official. He added the police would also use digital map of the area to ensure successful placement of police.
