His argument was that with e-mail addresses being legal, complaints received as mails were as good as hand-written FIRs. Thus Pandey, who took over as the DIG last November, circulated the official e-mail addresses of all the senior officers of six districts under his range in newspapers -- inviting complaints.
"The response has been slow. But, as computers reach more rural pockets, e-complaints would grow," said the DIG. Once an officer receives a complaint, he generally forwards it to the station concerned. The officer-in-charge of that station registers the complaints in a proper format in the register allotting a number. And a case follow up is supposed to be sent to the concerned complainant.
"If an e-mail FIR is not registered, the matter can be taken up with officers. The e-FIR would bring in more transparency and better documentation," said Pandey.
Sushil Verma, a local reporter, disagreed: "Though the public are enthused, they doubt if the officers would actually respond."
e-FIR was recently introduced in Himachal Pradesh. In Bihar, eight police ranges remain that are yet to follow Tirhut example.
Source: telegraphindia.com/1080112/jsp/nation/story_8770959
