Police employ thieves to catch thieves

In a novel experiment, the Kanpur police has decided to set out a thief to catch a thief. "Who knows a criminal better than someone who has been a criminal himself? A former criminal knows the tricks of the trade like the back of his hand and if we take him into confidence, he can help us catch other criminals," said SSP Kanpur, Anand Swaroop.

The Kanpur SSP plans to use former criminals who are now inactive due to age and ill-health in this new project that is called "history-sheeter friend". The SSP has asked all police station heads in Kanpur to furnish a list of old criminals and history sheeters who have been inactive for quite some time now. "Once identified, I will take them into confidence and ask them to share their knowledge with the local police so that crime can be checked," he said.

According to police estimates, there are about 5,000 such "inactive" criminals in Kanpur alone and many of them still maintain a contact with their underworld "friends", though they no longer directly participate in criminal activities. SSP Kanpur plans to host a special tea party next week where a group of former criminals will be invited for interaction with the police officials. "We will present our concept before them and will seek their cooperation in crime control. In return, we will close the history sheets of those who have been inactive for a certain period of time and have shown good behaviour," the SSP informed.

According to police sources, such a system had already yielded good results in some districts where the police has used former criminals to catch the new criminals. However, interaction with former criminals and using them as informers was done informally and in a secretive manner. "Anand Swaroop, SSP Kanpur, has already used this method with much success earlier in crime-infested districts like Etah and Ferozabad while another IPS officer Navneet Sikera used it in Varanasi. However, this is the first time that the concept is being officially used for crime control," said a senior police official.