Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayananda
Credit: DH Photo/Pushkar V
Bengaluru: In a bid to clear the huge backlog of pending cases, the Bengaluru police tracked down 234 accused listed in the Long Pending Register (LPR) between September 2023 and August 2024, according to data accessed by DH.
Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda had directed all deputy commissioners to task their officers to clean up LPR cases by tracking the accused in September 2023. LPR is a list of accused in criminal cases who jump bail, skip trial and go off the police radar. Such cases usually do not meet a logical end, with LPR lists ending up in dusty racks of police records rooms.
Dayananda told DH they wanted to clear old cases, thereby ensuring justice for victims. For this, the department launched a special drive. “This is also a message to those who have no regard for the law of the land. No offence will be tolerated,” Dayananda told DH.
Among 234 LPR cases disposed of, 40 were filed between 1992 and 2003, 86 between 2004 and 2010, 89 between 2011 and 2015, and 19 between 2016 and 2020.
Dayananda said they are not only tracking down the accused but are also monitoring and following up trials in LPR cases to secure convictions.
Senior police officers DH spoke to welcomed the drive and deemed the progress of the initiative as a success story. However, they also expressed disappointment over stacking these cases.
They cited excess workload as a major factor for LPR cases piling up. They also stressed “legal reasons” but refused to explain.
Though the progress of the drive is promising, as many as 3,000 LPR cases are still pending in the Bengaluru commissionerate.
Explaining the scenario, a senior officer said not more than 50 LPR cases have been disposed of in other districts.
“Even in Bengaluru, though investigators are actively working on LPR cases, there is a need to speed up the process,” the officer said.
Lokesh B Jagalasar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (south), said he has created separate teams in each police station under his jurisdiction for clearing LPR cases.
According to data, south division police have cleared over 90 LPR cases last year alone. Other jurisdictions have cleared an average of 30 cases in the past year.
DH has learnt from police sources that Dayananda has asked the department to make full use of the sanctioned budget and speed up the tracking process.