Delhi court questions integrity of police's secret informers

A Delhi court has questioned the integrity of secret informers, who inform the police about criminals, saying a person having so much of information on such offenders needs to be probed on his motive in sharing it.
Additional Sessions Judge Sunil K Aggarwal also said that a person having such a "smart network" cannot be taken to be a good Samaritan and he might have been involved in illegal activities previously.
The court's observation came while deciding a case in which Okhla resident Khurram was sentenced to three years in jail for illegally possessing a country-made pistol.
He was apprehended along with two others in 2006 by a police team, upon a secret information, while allegedly planning to rob a petrol pump near Rohini metro station.

The accused were nabbed after a secret informer had told the police the exact location, motorcycle number, colour of the vehicle and other relevant details of the accused.
Wondering how the secret informer knew all such details of the accused, the court said, "It needs to be examined as to what extent a fiction of secret information can be believed and secret informer kept behind the curtain. The one having so much of exact information about criminals needs to be inquired about his own motive in sharing it with police other than the likely incentive from so called 'secret fund'."

It further said, "A person having so smart a network cannot be taken to be good Samaritan. He may well have been associated with the accused persons at some earlier point of time or involved in other illegal/criminal activities."

Besides sentencing, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Khurram, who was accused of firing at the police team in an escape bid. The court said there was no doubt about recovering of the weapons from the accused.
The court also noted that general public has developed an apathy in joining investigation as the system does not compensate accordingly.

"Undoubtedly, public persons have developed apathy over passage of time in joining investigation not only fearing their long term involvement in the case at the cost of their time, energy and expenditure which the system does not adequately recompense but also for the reason of antagonising the criminals besides making their own reputation at stake," it said.
According to the prosecution, the police got a secret information that a team of inter-state dacoits were planning to rob a petrol pump near Rohini metro station and it laid a trap for the accused persons in 2006.
Two others, Iqbal and Abid Hasan were also apprehended from the spot along with Khurram, who allegedly fired a country pistol while trying to escape.

When Iqbal and Hasan failed to appear before the court after getting bail, they were declared proclaimed offenders in 2008 and 2013 respectively.
During the trial, Khurram claimed that he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case.