Panangad cops on their toes

The involvement of migrant labourers in the recent murder case in which a house-keeper was found dead at a Supreme Court lawyer’s residence in Maradu has prompted Kochi City Police to revive the registration programme.

Panangad police station under which the murder took place has registered almost 400 migrant workers as part of the initiative.

The workers are asked to produce their photo, thumb impression, residence address and phone number, as part of the registration procedures.

“It is the responsibility of the contractors to ensure that all labourers from other states are registered at a nearby police station. The details entered will be sent to databases at the district and state police headquarters.

The District Crime Record Bureau will house the information collected from the police stations,” police said.

In Panangad police station limits there are quite a few construction sites which attract a lot of migrant workers.

Police conceded that there is a shortage of patrolling officers and an up-to-date database containing all the information of the workers will strengthen the efforts to monitor the migrants working in each police station limits.

“This is a precautionary measure taken to curb the law and order situation in the city.

Workers from other states will also be accountable for their felonies as the database will help us identify suspects” said Bijo Alexander, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara. 

“There are a lot of workers from Bengal, Orissa and Assam in Kerala. The recent murder case reported from Maradu is an isolated incident. Otherwise no major cases are reported against them here,” said C K Sivan Additional S I, Panangad police station.

-Jude Gerald Lopez and Nikhy Anna Joseph