FIR can now be accessed anywhere online

Visakhapatnam: Even as people step into police stations to lodge their complaint, Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner Shanka Brata Bagchi noticed that the First Information Report (FIR) is not being registered immediately the way it has to be when victims approach police for the purpose. After taking charge as Police Commissioner, he has been collecting feedback from people belonging to various sections on different issues. The CP is collecting information from the victims by carrying out surprise checks and monitoring how the police are dealing with the complainants, the way the FIR is registered and the investigation being conducted. Disciplinary action is being taken against the staff when they are negligent in rendering their duties. Based on the feedback received from various quarters, the City Police Commissioner decided to upload each copy of the FIR online. Highlighting it, an option has been made available on the website to download a copy of FIR from anywhere in the world from the official Andhra Pradesh Police website.

Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam city police registered two cases under the ‘Banning of unregulated deposit schemes Act-2019’ (BUDS Act-2019) brought by the Central Government for the first time in the state.

According to this Act strict action is taken against those who indulge in financial offences, Section 21, 22 provides that those who receive unauthorised deposits shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of ten years and with a fine of not less than Rs.5 lakh. The CP mentioned that there is a possibility of imposing a penalty of double the amount collected from the victims. Further, the CP said that the new Act would give an opportunity to seize the properties from the offenders and return them to the victims after conducting an auction by the government. He said that the Superintendent of Police at district level and Commissioner of Police at city level have the authority to confiscate.