Meghalaya Police Hand Book of Police Circulars w.e.f. 1971 upto ...

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL & INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICEMEGHALAYA SHILLONGCIRCULAR NO. 3/89Sub :-Procedure regarding seizure, custody and disposal of propertiesDuring the course of my last inspection tour in the District/Police Station/OutPost it has come to my notice that the Register of property taken charge by the Police has notbeen maintained properly. Similarly, the articles seized by the Police have not been kept inthe Malkhana up to the required expectation as mentioned in the Police Manual Part-V Rule95 to 101.It is the primary duty of the Officer-In-Charge of a Police Station to receivearticles seized by the Investigation Officer promptly after making proper entries in the G.D.,Malkhana Register, have the same properly labeled and marked with Malkhana Registernumber and keep the same in the Malkhana till the time they are required for the submissionalong with F.F. In case of submission of Charge Sheet, the seized articles should be depositedalong with the Charge Sheet after obtaining signature of the person concerned who carries thearticle to Court through Exhibit Challan. If the articles are left in Zimma, a note givingreference to the Zimma Nama, clearly indicating the name and address of the Zimmadarshould accompany the F.F. The original copy of the Zimma Nama should be with P.S. TheZimma Nama should have yearly serial number and this number should also be noted againstthe Malkhana serial number of the property which has been left in Zimma in red ink. Boththe copy of Exhibit Challan and the Zimma Nama file should be kept along with theMalkhana Register in the Malkhana under lock and key.In case of seizure of cash, a receipt cheque should be issued to the person fromwhom the cash is received and an entry should be made in the monthly Cash Account.Similarly, in case of seizure of ornaments, the articles should be weighed properly in front ofthe owner or person from whom the same were seized after obtaining a certificate from arecognized jeweler about the genuineness of the article. In the event of such seizure, theproperty- both - cash/gold should be produced before the nearest Magistrate having power totake cognizance of the case. In case of seizure of Motor Vehicle/Motor Cycle/Scooter, MVIshould examine the same before releasing it to the Zimma. The seizure list along with theseized article should be produced before the Magistrate and his signature obtained in token ofhaving seen the same.Under no circumstances should seized articles be kept in O.Ps/PatrolPost/PCPs or with the I/O. They should be promptly produced before the O/Cs of PSconcerned and a receipt obtained from him.The APM Part V, Rule 95(6) clearly states that property stolen and remainingundetected should be entered in the same Malkhana Register. To facilitate work and to findout the description of properties stolen and remaining unrecovered, a separate register isnormally opened at the PS known as undetected property Register. All efforts should be madeto collect the description in detail along with value, weight, etc. of the stolen property toenable making of entries in this register. While submitting F.R. in case of true reported cases,the I/O should submit a prayer to the Magistrate regarding the disposal of property seizedduring the course of investigation. On receipt of the orders from the Magistrate, the O/C ofthe PS should dispose of the property as directed and the copy of such order should be kept inthe Magistrate‟s order File kept separately with regard to the Exhibits. This file should not bemixed with other files and should be maintained with the Malkhana Register, Exhibits,Challan and Zimma Nama File.Even though the Malkhana properties Register and file is maintained by the Officer earmarkedby O/C for that purpose, the over all responsibility for safe custody and accountingfor such seizure remains with the O/C who has to append his signature in the register at everystep till the final disposal of such properties.