Complaints aplenty about drop boxes set up by police in Kozhikode

Ill-maintained and often unopened, the boxes set up to gather information on drug trafficking and sexual abuse have now become almost inaccessible to the public

Even as an intensive campaign against substance abuse is under way in Kozhikode, there is no move yet to restore a large number of police complaint boxes in the city and rural areas that were used by people to exchange confidential information with the police.

The places where such drop boxes were installed earlier have become almost inaccessible to the public with an increase in the number of shops and changes in older constructions. Many such damaged or discoloured boxes now remain out of public sight. For over 10 years, no steps were taken to replace or restore the boxes.

“I have never seen the police opening the boxes to check for complaints. With the entry of more shops and private advertisement boards, the visibility of such boxes is very poor now,” said a lottery agent at the Kozhikode mofussil bus stand. He said there were a number of rusty boxes that no one wanted to use.

The situation is almost the same for drop boxes installed exclusively for students in the city and rural areas with an aim to encourage confidential exchange of information about suspected drug trafficking and sexual abuse cases. The majority of such boxes often remain unopened.

For the convenience of students, the police had put up about 130 drop boxes in various aided and government schools in the Kozhikode rural area as a model initiative launched in 2013. Initially, efforts were made to check the boxes at least once a week in the presence of a circle inspector. However, the project implemented under the supervision of the District Crime Records Bureau gradually lost steam.

According to police sources, the limited number of complaints received through such boxes was one of the reasons to ignore them. The popularity of various online grievance redressal forums and helplines also made the drop boxes redundant, they added.

The functionaries of some residents’ associations and citizens’ forums said the drop boxes should be reintroduced in such a way to attract public attention and to gather information about criminal activities effectively. The cooperation of sponsors could be sought to re-introduce bigger drop boxes with unique designs, they added.