The page on the Patna police website where one can download the forms for verification of tenants and domestic helps

Residents have finally started seeking assistance from police before hiring domestic helps and tenants to be doubly sure about their antecedents.

City senior superintendent of police Amrit Raj said 90 verification forms for tenants, students and domestic helps have been downloaded from the recently launched website of Patna police and submitted to various police stations.

The website, www.patnapolice.bih.nic.in, was launched on January 26 and two application forms, one for the verification of tenants and students and the other for household helps, were uploaded the same day. Both can be downloaded in Hindi and English. “Since the launch, around 90 people have approached different police stations to get the antecedents of their tenants or household helps verified. The applications forms are simple and easy to fill up. Though the initial response is encouraging, police want everyone to take the initiative for their own security,” Raj said.

For verification of the domestic helps, an applicant needs to fill up details such as name, present and permanent address, contact detail, name of local guardian, if any, contact details, marital status and the date when he or she was employed. The applicant then has to fill up his own name, address and contact details, put a passport size picture of the domestic help, take his or her signature and drop the same at the nearest police station.

The application form for verification of tenants and students in lodges is more or less similar. “The only additional fields are the name of the college or institute where he or she studies or the name, the address of his or her workplace, the date of entry in the lodge or house, the registration number of his or her vehicle, if any, and the details of the landlord. In both the forms, the station house officer of the local police station would conduct a detailed check before writing down comments in the form. A copy of the form would be returned to the applicant after verification. The police have been asserting on the process for long. This time, 90 people have turned up at police stations with filled-up forms in less than a month. This shows that people are serious,” said another police officer.

“Though very few criminal cases are reported from Patna these days, incidents of crime involving household helps and tenants are plenty in other cities. It is always a choice of the residents to avail the service,” added the officer.

Some lodge owners said the verification process was important. “I haven’t heard something like this before. But I would avail the service if it is in place. The capital has witnessed a lot of students committing suicide or dying mysteriously in private lodges. Under such circumstances, lodge owners face hassles,” said Tanveer Hussain, the owner of a private lodge on Govind Mitra Road.