Police plan random tenant scrutiny

The Bidhannagar Commissionerate has decided to do random physical verification of the identity of tenants at the police station level.The move comes close on the heels of the police stumbling on Rs 3.8 crore in cash in two black bags at two rented flats at Sankalpa II residential complex in New Town. These, it was found, belonged to fake call centre operators.The incident also brought into focus how fraudsters have changed their modus operandi and were operating out of rented flats with fewer staff members to avoid suspicion.All police stations are collating data on tenants to start the process. “Our focus will be more on students or working individuals living in groups," said a police officer.“We always used to ask for documents of tenants and the enquiry would be done by officers of the Special Branch. All a landlord had to do was download the form from the commissionerate website. One had to submit the filled up form and upload it and show the receipt to the local police station. Only then would the housing society allow the tenant to occupy the premise,” said an officer of a police station in New Town.“We will now do a physical verification on a random basis. The situation might be such that a single individual’s identity papers have been submitted to the authorities but on enquiry, it is found that several others are staying with him in the rented premise whose identities have not been shared with the thana,” he said.