Cops get tough with landlords

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23

At least 24 landlords have been booked by the UT police in less than two weeks under a special drive for renting out rooms and running PG accommodations without providing information about the antecedents of the tenants to the police.

The campaign against the PG owners and landlords has been under way for the past two weeks and cases against them are being registered under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant).

All police stations have been instructed to carry out a door-to-door campaign to identify PG accommodations and houses where residents are staying without providing information to the police.

The door-to-door drive is also being carried out in colonies and slums where a large number of people hailing from other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, are residing. A large number of people from Nepal is also residing in these areas.

Police officials said during the drive, many people from neighboring states were found who could not justify their purpose of stay in the city.

A police official said the motive behind the campaign was to ensure that no outsider stayed in the city with a wrong intention.

The official said despite the city frequently witnessing crime involving domestic helps and paying guests, landlords were least bothered to get the antecedents of the servants, tenants and PGs verified by the police. Police officials said tenant and PG verification was the need of the hour, especially in the wake of the rising incidents of theft and snatching in the city.

The police are encouraging landlords to install CCTV cameras in the buildings.

Download form 

The tenant and PG verification form can be downloaded from the Chandigarh Police website free of cost. The duly filled form then has to be submitted at the police station concerned. 

Police wake up from slumber

The UT police have woken up from deep slumber as the drive was not carried out during the past few years. 

Tepid response from cops of other states 

Police sources said a tepid response from neighbouring states regarding tenant and PG verification was another hurdle being faced by them. “The verification requests sent to the police in UP and Bihar do not elicit any response. The state police hardly pay heed to these,” said a police official.