Hyderabad: City police has begun linking the Aadhaar card number of a person arrested in any criminal case with his identity. With this initiative, typing the Aadhaar card number will show the criminal record of the person. Cops say that they are linking the Aadhaar number to prevent the accused from taking alias or different names each time they are arrested in different jurisdictions.
West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police A. Venkateswara Rao said, “We are taking Aadhaar numbers and proof of only the arrested accused and not those named in FIRs. There are instances of the accused giving false identity and alias names when they are arrested. We need to keep track on the criminal record of repeat offenders. So we are taking the Aadhaar numbers,”
However, some groups have opposed the plans of the police maintaining that the law does not mandate it. They argue that cops should differentiate between convicts and accused.
Advocate Raju Yadav said, “There are several Supreme Court rulings that say that Aadhaar linking is not mandatory. Even in the recent case of the assault and suicide of beautician Sirisha, Aadhaar has been linked to the accused Rajeev and Sravan. Cops should distinguish between habitual offenders and those involved in regular offences and those where conviction is not attained.”
