If you want to travel from one district to another within the state or from one state to another you will get an e-pass within a few hours provided you pay a data-entry fee of Rs 500 and Rs 1000
Pune: If you want to travel from one district to another within the state or from one state to another you will get an e-pass within a few hours provided you pay a data-entry fee of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 respectively. This new modus operandi of agents profiteering from the paid e-pass racket has caught police off guard and has left honest citizens helpless or at the mercy of these profiteers.
During the entire lockdown period, movement of citizens and vehicles for non-essential purposes has been prohibited by the state government. Citizens willing to travel have to apply to the police for an e-pass mentioning the reason for travel and other details. Police, however, do not approve of all these applications. Applications mentioning any medical or other reason considered to be 'genuine' by the police personnel scrutinising these forms are approved. This approval may take days in most cases. As a result, agents are exploiting the weakness of common citizens and assuring them immediate approval of e-pass if they pay a certain amount under the name of a data-entry fee.
Many advertisements related to assisting in obtaining e-pass are being circulated on social media networks including WhatsApp and Facebook. There are no specific rules or laws to regulate the fees charged by a data entry operator to fill the application form.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Bacchan Singh said, "The Service Excellence & Victim Assistance (SEVA) cell of Pune police is operational 24x7. We consider the genuinity of the application for issuing passes. But if someone is profiteering from it, then we will reconsider the process seriously."
EXPLOITATION MODUS
For persons willing to travel within the state, an amount of Rs 200 to 600 is being charged, while those seeking pass for inter-state travel are charged Rs 700 to Rs 1000. Once the application for inter-district travel within the state is made in the morning around 9 am, the pass is issued by 6 pm evening. The inter-state travel pass is made available within 12 hours.
FIR’S FOR MISUSE OF POLICE PASS