MARGAO
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai has sounded a note of caution to the police authorities, warning that the 'Know your Neighbour' initiative by the district police on tenant verification should not end up as 'spy on your neighbour'.
The Goa Forward chief reminded how the traffic sentinel scheme was misused to settle personal scores.
“While asking citizens to be watchful and vigilant is a good thing, without proper guidelines and oversight, these plans can spoil the peace and harmony among neighbours”, he added.
He added: “Instead of turning neighbours into snitches, why not educate the citizens to report their tenants themselves? Use technology to simplify the process without having to go to police stations. Goans understand the dangers of anti-social activities for them to hide criminals”.
South Goa district police chief Abhishek Dhania had on Wednesday unveiled the 'Know Your Neighbour' initiative, encouraging people to submit tenant/servant forms of the tenants residing in their vicinity.
The SP, South had gone to the public with the initiative after a native of Assam, accused of rape of a minor girl in Arunachal Pradesh, was nabbed by the Margao police after he was found residing at Mandopa-Navelim.
The initiative also assumes significance and comes against the backdrop of the fact that no notification under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code from the District Magistrate is in force directing the landlords and employers to get their tenants and employees to fill up the tenant verification forms.
In fact, SP Dhania had conceded that several crimes have been committed by the migrants/foreigners coming to Goa from other states/countries. Similarly, migrants/foreigners with criminal backgrounds run away after committing crimes in other states and take shelter in Goa to escape from the hands of the law.
