The north zone police have asked all police stations to hold petition inquiry in the respective village or house of the complainant. The move is aimed at reviving traditional policing and to prevent overcrowding at police stations.
There are about 90 police stations in Vellore, Tirupathur, Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai districts. “Earlier, once a complaint is received, the petitioner and the counter-petitioner used to be summoned to the station for inquiry. Now, we will send a head constable to the village of the complainant first for preliminary investigation and then the inspector or sub-inspector will carry out questioning and solve the issue at the earliest,” said N. Kamini, DIG, Vellore Range.
She said this would not only help solve cases fast, it would also reduce crowding at police stations and help policemen build a rapport with villagers. “Apart from attending to complaints, they can check on history sheeters in the locality, conduct awareness programmes, build a rapport with villagers and earn their trust. This is how it was done earlier,” she added.
The initiative was being implemented as per the instructions given by Rajesh Das, ADGP, and P. Nagarajan, IG, North Zone. “This will be done in all women police stations too,” added Ms. Kamini.
