Telangana Police will now maintain “history sheets” for habitual social media offenders and financial fraudsters. Officials say it covers trolls, defamation posts, and frauds, sparking opposition fears of misuse.
Hyderabad: The Telangana Police have taken a new step that is being seen as the first of its kind in India. They have decided to open “history sheets” for people who are repeat offenders in crimes related to social media.
Normally, history sheets are opened only for well-known criminals who keep committing civil or criminal offences.
According to an order issued on September 23 by the Cyber Crime Police, this move is based on instructions given earlier on September 5 by Director General of Police (DGP) Jitender.
The subject of the memo read,
“Instructions to open history sheets on all the habitual and addicted offenders/accused persons who are involved in social media crimes and financial frauds and ensure close surveillance over their activities in their localities.”
This means that now history sheets will not only be opened for people who are already arrested for social media crimes but also for “suspects.”
So, even those who are accused under Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant clauses of the Telangana State Police Manual (TSPM) may have their names added to these sheets.
Explaining the reason behind the move, a senior police officer from Hyderabad said,
“There is every reason to open these history sheets because several online social media trolls are targeting women and other weaker sections. There are also repeated offenders who post defaming content against people they don’t like.”
When asked if this would also apply to political social media activists, the same source clarified,
“It will include anyone who has committed social media offences under relevant provisions of the BNS and TSPM. No political party person is immune to this order.”
The officer further added that this step will not only cover social media crimes but also target those involved in money-related frauds, stating,
“It also includes habitual financial fraudsters who depend on people for their hard-earned money.”
At the same time, this new move has created political unease. Since the Telangana Home Department is still under Minister A Revanth Reddy, both the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not given any official comments yet.
However, opposition leaders have expressed worries that such history sheets could be misused to keep a close watch on critics or supporters of opposition parties.
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