Police complaint boxes to be set up in Metro stations

New Delhi: After installing complaint boxes in railway stations in the city, Delhi Police will now take this initiative to Delhi Metro stations. Commuters can write their complaints on paper and drop them in the box, which will be investigated by police officials.

Set up at Hazrat Nizamuddin and New Delhi railway stations in May this year, the complaint boxes carry the names of the concerned station house officer (SHO) and their phone number.

These boxes started getting complaint letters, as well as lost documents like Aadhaar and voter I-cards which were returned to their rightful owners after identification.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Transport) Atul Katiyar had held meetings with SHOs of police's Railway unit, where they told him to make sure that only rail passengers and their family members stay at the railway station, and unwanted persons are removed. The move is aimed at deterring crime.

Cops say that after Metro commuters fall victim to any crime, like theft mobile or purse, they mostly do not go to the Metro police station, fearing that they would miss their train, and often lodge their grievances through e-FIR or normal FIR after a few hours or days of the crime.

"Seeing the situation, we plan to keep complaint boxes in the Metro jurisdiction as well, where a commuter can write down the crime, their details in a paper and put it in the box, which will be checked and investigated by the staff," said Katiyar.

According to Delhi Police data, accessed by Millennium Post, till June 11 this year, 2,335 cases were registered through e-FIR, whereas through normal FIRs, 178 cases were filed.

"In 2017, till the same date, over 6,000 cases registered through e-FIR. Through regular FIRs, 6,000 cases were registered," the data stated.