Nashik: Owners of auto-rickshaws who rent their vehicles to people with criminal record will be booked by police under Section 34 (common intention) of the IPC, if the concerned criminal commits an offence.Police have asked those owning auto-rickshaws to ensure that they do not rent out vehicles to people with a criminal background. Owners have been instructed to be especially cautious of anyone seeking to rent an auto for just a day or so.The police recently intimated close to 20 such autorickshaw owners on finding criminals using their vehicles to operate the auto business.Commisisoner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil said, “There have been cases recently in which auto drivers were involved in robbing passengers. Furthermore, we recently checked close to 70 suspects with criminal record, of which 20 were found operating auto-rickshaws. There are many offences committed by auto-drivers. While the process of checking records of rickshaw drivers is underway, we also do not want autorickshaw owners to give their vehicles to people with criminal records on rent.”City police said there were continuous complaints of misbehavior or rudeness from passengers riding autorickshaws. Some passengers were also charged exorbitant fares, while some were robbed by auto drivers.Though proper rehabilitation of criminals is necessary, a police officer said, criminals who could abuse passengers should not be allowed to drive such vehicles as they have opportunities to misbehave or rob passengers.Just recently three people were arrested for robbing a 27-year-old man in the Nashik Road area. The victim had alighted from a train at Nashik Road railway station and was walking towards the Pune highway to get a bus or private vehicle to reach Sinnar. He was accosted by three persons travelling in a rickshaw, who later took him to a desolate place, beat him up and robbed him of his cellphone and cash, all together amounting to Rs 18,000.Police said they had checked only 70 people with criminal history and found 20 of them operating rickshaws to earn a living. Thus the extent of criminals into driving autos could be huge, officers said.Many youths and middle-aged men who do not have an auto-rickshaw of their own take autos on rent for Rs 200 or Rs 300 a day. At the end of the day, these people return the vehicle to the owner and pay the rent, keeping the remaining income of the day with them.Senior officials said that if they find someone renting a rickshaw to a criminal and the latter commits an offence, the owner too would be booked.

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