Representative image showing a police officer.
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Mangaluru: Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy CH said that the Mangaluru City Police have initiated stringent action against sureties in cases where rowdy sheeters and accused involved in serious offences have absconded after being released on bail within the limits of the Mangaluru Police Commissionerate.
He said that over the last six months, all police stations in the commissionerate were directed to give special focus to long-pending cases involving serious crimes such as communal murders, murders, rape, stone-pelting incidents, robbery, and dacoity, in which the accused had gone absconding after securing bail.
As part of this special drive, police identified 38 absconding accused against whom a total of 48 warrants were pending. These cases pertain to a long period ranging from 1998 to 2023. During this period, police succeeded in arresting 15 rowdy sheeters, following which trial proceedings in the concerned cases have commenced, the commissioner said.
The commissioner further explained that in many serious cases, rowdy sheeters tend to misuse the bail granted by courts and deliberately evade trial proceedings. In such situations, the police, have begun initiating action against the sureties who stood guarantee for the accused.
Accordingly, fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh have been imposed on 11 sureties so far. In addition, properties including houses, land, and other assets belonging to 17 sureties have been attached. These attachments have also been officially recorded in the Revenue records (RTC). While the sureties may continue to reside in or use the attached properties, they are prohibited from selling, transferring, or otherwise dealing with them, he said.
The Commissioner cautioned individuals who stand as sureties for rowdy sheeters or accused involved in serious offences to exercise due diligence. He stressed that sureties must ensure that the accused remain responsible, comply with bail conditions, and attend court proceedings without absconding.
He also disclosed that two separate cases have been registered against individuals who acted as fake sureties in serious criminal cases.
One Dandupalya gang accused still at large
Speaking about the 1997 dacoity-cum-murder case registered within the Urwa police station limits, in which two people were killed by the notorious Dandupalya gang, the Police Commissioner said that one of the accused continues to be absconding.
Eight individuals were involved in the crime, and six were taken into custody soon after the incident. Of the remaining two accused, Chikka Hanuma was recently arrested in Andhra Pradesh, where he had been living under an assumed identity and had started a new family.
The Commissioner said Chikka Hanuma has been convicted in eight cases, including three in which he received the death sentence. Although the accused had challenged some of the convictions on appeal and secured acquittals in a few cases, the Commissioner clarified that Chikka Hanuma himself was never acquitted in any case, as he had been evading arrest since the time of the offence.
He added that Chikka Hanuma was involved in criminal activities until 2000, and police are currently collecting detailed information related to those cases. Proceedings for the trial and retrial in the pending cases will begin shortly, he said.