Delhi Police pick 890 criminals who may be sent away from area

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has identified more than 890 criminals who were involved in multiple crimes and were fit for externment.
The externment process is meant to keep criminals away from an area for a certain period to ensure peace in society.

Till August 19 this year, the maximum number of such criminals, 215, were identified by Outer District, followed by Outer North (124) and Dwarka (95).
They were found fit for externment proceedings under Section 47 of Delhi Police Act (removal of persons about to commit offences), cops said. In the rest 12 districts, more than 500 such criminals were identified.
Delhi Police will initially serve notices to such criminals to explain why they should not be externed. If they are unable to give a satisfactory reply, further action will be taken, an officer said.
So far, 740 notices have been issued. “Over 170 notices have been issued by Outer district, 90 by Dwarka and 71 by South district,” Delhi Police’s data accessed by TOI shows.
In the Outer district, according to a senior officer, they have specific criteria for externment. “We analyse the threat perception. We check whether common people living in an area are scared of the rowdy, and whether the criminal is running a proper network of an organised crime syndicate that needs to be busted. We ensure that no one lives in fear,” the officer said.
Another officer from the Outer North district said that criminals involved in body offences and excise act, robbers and snatchers were usually externed.
“If they are involved in more than three criminal cases and don’t want to change themselves, they are externed from the city for at least six months.”
Till August 19, as many as 134 people were externed from the city.
Externment plays an important role in maintaining peace and harmony in society.
“After externment, it becomes tough for a criminal to restart his criminal activities in another state. At a new place, he has to create new links, which is not easy,” a cop explained.
According to the data, as many as 1,75,327 cases were registered in Delhi till August 15, including 3,246 heinous and 1,72,081 non-heinous cases. Over 5,100 snatchings, 719 hurt and 1,264 robbery cases were reported.