Police fail to act in BPO Sting

Police could have acted before formal complaint
SUDIPTO DEY

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2005 11:21:35 PM]

NEW DELHI: Even as London police was caught up over the issue of jurisdiction while probing the case of alleged theft of financial data by an Indian IT worker, their counterparts in India could have, on their own, initiated preliminary investigation on the basis of media reports, without waiting for a formal complaint.

Gurgaon police on Saturday formally began investigating the issue, nearly 48 hours after a British tabloid broke the news about alleged sale of confidential information by accused Karan Bahree, an employee of a Gurgaon-based web development company.

Section 80 of IT Act, ’00, gives power to police officials - of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) or above - to enter any public place, search and arrest without warrant any person suspected of committing any offence under the IT Act. The term “public place” includes any public conveyance, hotel, shop or any other place intended for use by, or accessible to the public.

Legal experts point out that Indian police need not have waited for any formal complaint but could have initiated an inquiry on their own.