QR code turns key evidence in tracking offender

Thiruvananthapuram: A ward member of Mudakkal grama panchayat has made use of a QR code on an empty packet to trap a person who had been frequently dumping waste in his ward. Poovanathumoodu Biju, the ward member of Kaippallikonam in Mudakkal, ran out of patience after trash began to reappear in the storm water drain he had cleaned along with local residents and rural employment guarantee workers.
A week ago, he chanced upon a QR code with the label of an e-commerce platform on a packet which was found dumped in the drain. The address was stricken off, so Biju teamed up with other residents and reached the warehouse of the e-commerce firm and found out the address of the person who had dumped waste in the drain. He also filed a complaint with the Attingal police station along with all the details.
Within two days he received a call from the police station informing him that the offender was tracked down. It turned out that the person in question was from the neighbouring Attingal municipality and was transporting waste to dump in the drain at Mudakkal panchayat in his car.
The matter was taken to the panchayat committee and the person was slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000. The panchayat committee has now received a request from the person to waive off the fine.
Biju said that the drain carries water towards a canal which is being used for washing and other purposes. “We had cleaned this drain so many times but trash would keep appearing the next day. This time we got hold of the person using the QR code,” said Biju. The panchayat also made the same person remove all the waste he had dumped in the drain as a punishment.