After finding that 79 persons have gone to foreign countries, either by jumping bail or evading arrest after committing criminal acts in the district, Superintendent of Police N Manivannan has decided to block their passports in coordination with the Regional Passport Office (RPO).
“As the process of issuing Look out Certificate (LOC) helped the police to secure the arrest of the accused only when they returned home, we have decided to block their passports and force them to return home to face trial in the cases,” the SP told The Hindu here on Tuesday.
Perusal of records showed that 79 people who were facing criminal cases in various police sub-divisions have gone abroad in a bid to evade legal proceedings, the SP said. To force them to return home and face trial, the police have decided to write to the RPO to block their passports with the help of Indian Embassies and Indian High Commission offices, he said.
Records revealed that most of the accused had gone to the Gulf countries, Malaysia and Singapore, he said adding “we will soon launch the process of blocking their passports invoking the provisions of the Indian Passport Act and make the first arrest under the process.”
Besides, the issuance of LOC would continue to secure the arrest of offenders when they landed at any airport in the country, the SP said. Last week the Mudukulathur police had arrested a person, wanted in connection with a criminal case, when he landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The accused tried to hoodwink the police by landing there but he was caught, the SP added.
Meanwhile, the district which topped the southern region for maximum number of passport holders after Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli, achieved the distinction of zero pendency in passport verification this year so far, the SP said.
The RPO had referred 1.14 lakh passports for verifications since January this year and the district police have cleared all the cases. Namakkal district achieved zero pendency but it was referred only 58,140 passports for verifications, he added.
