VIJAYAWADA: Since the horrific gang rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad in December 2019, Andhra Pradesh police have begun implementing ‘Zero FIR’, a non-jurisdictional document that can be registered for a cognizable offence.
From December 03 till date, 546 Zero FIRs have been registered across various police stations in the state. Out of which, 149 were registered in 2021 (till August 31), 338 of them were registered in 2020, 59 in 2019 (from December).
According to police sources, majority of these cases (46%) pertains to missing persons, followed by sexual offences and other cognizable crimes. AP has 64 per cent fewer Zero-FIRs compared to Telangana. This is predominantly due to lack of awareness of the Zero FIRs in the neighbouring state.
It is pertinent to note that Zero FIRs were conceptualised much before 2019 incident. The idea came to fore after the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape where the government set up Justice Verma committee to look at amendments to criminal law in India. In fact, apart from Justice Verma committee report – on October 12, 2015, the Union home ministry had issued an advisory to all chief secretaries of all states and Union territories to instruct concerned departments to compulsorily register FIRs.
