Mumbai: Mankhurd police's weird diktat: no Aadhaar card, no complaint

Do you need Aadhaar cards to lodge FIRs? The Mankhurd police have pasted a notification inside the station, asking people to produce their Aadhaar cards while filing complaints.

The notification, written in Marathi, a copy of which is with DNA, reads: "It is necessary to bring your Aadhaar card to the police station to register a complaint."

When DNA asked senior officers about it, they were baffled. The government has not issued any such rule, they said. "Citizens have a right to file complaints at police stations and it does not require Aadhaar cards," said a senior officer on condition of anonymity.

After DNA brought this to the notice of senior police officers, an internal inquiry was ordered. "When we enquired with the Mankhurd police, they said that the new computerised system has a provision to enter Aadhaar card details while filing complaints. This might have confused them," an officer said.

The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), being launched in police stations across Maharashtra, mandates the Aadhaar card details of the complainant and the accused.

Dattatray Shinde, Senior Police Inspector, Mankhurd police station, said: "We are finding out as to who pasted the notification."

Rashmi Karandikar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (operations), and spokesperson for Mumbai Police, said: "Any person can approach the police and file complaints without Aadhaar cards. No such notifications have been sent to police stations."