(Representative image)Recently, goons attacked informers in Alappuzha who had provided police with information on drug trafficking. The attack points to the grievous lapses on the part of the police who were not able to keep the whereabouts of the informers discreet. Such lapses can lead to serious repercussions in implementing law and order in the state.
When informers, who provide covert or overt information to the police, are attacked, it is a sad commentary on the efficiency of the police system and the belief that people have on the police. The police, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of the people, needs information from many sources. This is especially true when the police is dealing with organised criminal gangs. When informers are not afforded the protection they should rightfully have, they would become non cooperative in future, cutting out a vital supply of information for the police. The attack in Alappuzha took more serious proportions because the informers were attacked by very accused and those under a cloud of suspicion.
According to Indian laws, the details of those who provide information to the police need not be divulged even to the court. Even if the court demands such information, details need not be divulged, indicating the importance that the law of the land attaches to helping informers.
There should be systems in the government as well as with the police that would safeguard details of informers. Such information should not make their way into the public domain by way of careless talks or casual reporting. Every police personnel must understand that if information about informers is leaked, it could lead to loss of lives. Some police officers depend on information from criminals for nailing their quarry. In such cases, safeguarding the identity of the informer becomes much more important.
In the US, there are adequate systems that provide protection to those who help the police. In the case of informers, the government might even relocate people if their lives are in danger because of information leaks. Our government must provide support, in cash and kind, to informers because they were trying to help the police. When informers are attacked, the police, government and the society have to support them in order to show that they have done something good for the society. On the other hand, if informers are labelled as idiots who put their safety in danger by helping the police, it would not help the enforcement of law and order in the state.
(The author is a former DGP)
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