Patna: Very few people take Patna police's advisory on police verification of domestic help, caretakers, drivers and security guards seriously. Expectedly, the results are disastrous.
The murder of an elderly couple at Dujra under the jurisdiction of Buddha Colony police station in Patna on Thursday has once again brought the police's advisory for safety of citizens into focus. Though the accused (caretaker) in the couple's murder case was living with them for nearly four decades, no police verification was done.
"Verification of antecedents of employees working as domestic help, drivers, caretakers and private security guards works as a deterrent," said Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj on Saturday.
He expressed his displeasure over the residents' apathy to get their personal employees verified by the police before hiring them.
The police keep on issuing advisories on safety of human lives and property from time to time. "But only a few take such instructions seriously. The attitude must change," the SSP told The Telegraph on the sidelines of the arrest of the main accused Shoaib in the double murder case.
According to the police advisory, the verification of credentials of domestic helps, drivers, caretakers and security guards is mandatory. Several crimes involving domestic help and other personal employees have been reported in the city in recent months.
Ajay Kumar Sinha, 52, a resident of Sandalpur Road in Patna City, had a different point.
"I have changed three maid servants in the past six months. Whenever I ask potential maid servants to get their credentials verified by the police, they flee. I have to again look for another one," he rued.
Similarly, Prashant Kumar, 43, who works as a manager for a private pharmaceuticals company, said he had to wait for almost two months to get his driver's antecedents verified by police. And that too after making several rounds of the police station," he told The Telegraph.
Uday Kumar's story is, however, different. A resident of Rajendra Nagar, Uday, 54, had sent an application to the Kadamkuan police station with details of his private security guard and it was done within a fortnight. "I followed the instructions and the verification report was sent to my address within 15 days," he said.
A deputy superintendent of police said under the cover of anonymity that majority of incidents involving domestic help and private employees could have been averted, had the employers done verification with the police before hiring them on the job.
"Majority of employees had not been verified with the police, which was a setback in the investigation. Had they been verified, the crimes would not have taken place," the DSP said, adding that the advisory should be made mandatory for the citizens.
He said that before hiring any employees, residents will have to furnish information like their photo identification documents, information regarding their previous employment, address proof, names of their family members and contact numbers.
The police officer said that those who are not complying with the directive are punishable under Section 188 of IPC. A similar advisory has been issued for tenants' verification.
