Proclaimed offenders are having the last laugh in the City Beautiful as a helpless police is unable to nab them and bring them to justice.
According to the official records, around 2,431 accused involved in various cases are running loose playing a cat and mouse game with the UT police.
Many of the proclaimed offenders are based out of the city and hence it is hard to track their movement. Till the end of the year 2006 there were around 840 proclaimed offenders, however their number has tripled in the past six years giving the city police a major headache.
Majority of these cases are related to swindlers who have raked the moolah by cheating people. Cheats, gamblers, forgers, thieves and robbers are also part of the list. Around 86 cases in which persons have been declared proclaimed offenders are related to check bounce.
UT police has formed a special cell to tighten their noose around absconding people wanted in various cases. Till date police has nabbed only 272 proclaimed offenders.
Recently one Vicky was arrested by the UT police who was declared a proclaimed offender by a city court in the year 2012. A thief, Vicky was needed in more than 47 cases of theft and burglary. Out of these 47 cases, thief Vicky has been convicted in 27 cases on various charges.
However he gave a slip to the UT police and jumped his bail in two cases for which he was declared a proclaimed offender until last week when he was finally caught by the police when he was enjoying his ride on a bike which he managed to steal once again.
A year after Vicky was declared a proclaimed offender, he was found to be the master mind behind 20 cases of chain snatching. He even managed to steal a motorbike for his joy rides. For now the court has sent him for three days in police remand for further investigation after he was arrested last week.
On the other hand the UT police are still clueless about how to deal with other proclaimed offenders.