JJB orders Delhi police to act tough on organised crime networks exploiting children

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The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) has directed Special Juvenile Police wing of the Delhi Police to take stringent measures against adults exploiting and pushing children into organised crimes like commission of thefts, robbery etc. JJB Principal Magistrate Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj ordered training of the investigation officers and juvenile welfare officers to carry out proper investigation in cases of crime involving children. Advocate Bhupesh Chandra Samad from Socio-Legal Information Centre (SLIC) was directed by the Board to study the issue and submit a comprehensive report where the JJB found that several juveniles who were produced before it were actually being systematically used by some elements of organised crime. Acting on the report submitted by teh SLIC, the Juvenile Justice Board has asked the Delhi Police to improve its investigation techniques in such cases and to make sure that the culprits are brought to book. The Board has even suggested in its order guidelines for police as to how conduct investigation in matters related to children in conflict. "There is a conspiracy against the childhood of these children...the manner of investigation therefore is required to be re-worked. The case of a juvenile where he is found committing offences as stated hereinabove, the investigation shall not stop at the apprehension of the juvenile and filing the kalandra in the Board. A proper investigation in each case must be made -- working on the involvement of the adults, role of the parents, role of the gangs and they should necessarily be booked for their part of act in the offence as provided under law", the Board observed. In past few years, Delhi has seen a significant rise in children committing thefts of valuable articles, laptops etc, from the cars by diverting the attention of passengers. The JJB gave this decision when it was brought to its knowledge about the existence of an organised crime syndicate, called "Thak–Thak (Knock-knock) Gang. This gang operates through children who are sometimes caught by public and handed over to police but the real offenders remain behind the scene.