Rural police invoke stringent BNS section to check organised crime
In order to nail snatchers and robbers, the Amritsar Rural Police have adopted a novel way. They have brought snatchers and gangs of robbers under the ambit of stringent Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Section 111 of the BNS provides for the offence of Organised Crime.
The police have identified members of different gangs and several of them have already been nabbed with sharp-edged weapons and efforts are being made to arrest their remaining accomplices.
Maninder Singh, SSP, Amritsar (Rural), said Section 111 of the BNS would be invoked to deal with serious issues like unlawful activities involving criminal gangs. The section provides the law a comprehensive framework for defining, investigating and prosecuting such gangs.
He said Section 111 covers continuing unlawful activities committed by a group of persons, such as kidnapping, robbery, snatchings, extortion, contract killings, cybercrimes, human trafficking, drug peddling, vehicle thefts, etc. It would mean harsher penalties, including imprisonment and hefty fines.
The SSP said it also has the provisions of death or life imprisonment along with fine of not less than Rs 10 lakh in the cases in which the crime resulted in the death of a person. It also addresses the punishment for those who aid, abet or knowingly facilitate the commission of organised crime, he added.
The step has been taken to nail criminals, habitual offenders, gangs which have been creating law and order trouble in rural areas.
On April 13, the rural police had registered four cases under organised crime in which 21 persons were booked, out of which five were arrested. According to these FIRs, the suspects have formed gangs involved in robberies and snatchings. From the looted amount, they used to procure contraband and lure the vulnerable youths into addiction. The police have recovered sharp-edged weapons from the arrested accused.
On April 12, the police arrested three persons — Harmanjit Singh, Happy Masih of Nawan Pind village and Rachhpal Singh of Teda Khurd village — under the similar offence.
Similarly, on April 11, the rural police booked nine snatchers in two separate incidents, out of which two persons were arrested.
Amritsar