House owners not registering details of tenants, say police

Thergaon triple murder accused was staying on rent, but lessor had not given details to local police station

House owners not registering details of tenants, say police

Thergaon triple murder accused was staying on rent, but lessor had not given details to local police station

House owners in the city are supposed to submit details about their tenants to the local police station. This was made compulsory after the German Bakery blast, last year. But most are not bothered and for those who actually make the effort, the police apathy is a deterrent.u00a0

Satyam Hanumant Kumbhar (30), who killed his wife and two of his daughters on Wednesday, was staying in a rented room at Thergaon near Hinjewadi. The Hinjewadi police said that he had misinformed the house owner Ramesh Kondwilkar, who was told that the woman accompanying him was his sister. Hondwilkar, on his part, had also not informed them about Kumbhar.

Another suspect Salim Shaikh, who was arrested on charges of kidnapping an eight-year-old boy on February 5, too was staying on rent in Pimpri. His details were also not given to the local police by the house owner.

For the few who actually took out the time to register details about their tenants, the nonchalance of the police was not at all encouraging.

Sai Prasad (30), a resident at Gokhale Nagar, narrated his experience at the local police station. "The cops simply refused to take down the information. It was shocking for me and I didn't know what to do next," he said. "If something happens hereafter, the police would blame us saying that we had not informed them about the tenants. But what about their responsibility?" Prasad's experience is shared by many other house owners too.

'Just post the info'
Police Inspector Pandharinath Mandhre from the Hadapsar police station denied that citizens are rebuffed at the police stations when they come to give details of their tenants.

"It's not difficult to fill the form, come to the police station and give the information. The allegation of non-cooperation made against the police is baseless. If information is not received at the police station level, then citizens can just send it through register or speed post," Inspector Mandhre said.

In 2010, only the Hadapsar police took action against 150 persons for not giving details of their tenants. The defaulters were produced in court after they were arrested under section 144 of the criminal procedure code, Mandhre added.

"If any of the house owner or the tenant deliberately fills in wrong information and submits it to us, we will take strict action against them," he said.