CRIMINALS in Nagpur are openly defying externment orders, exposing serious cracks in the enforcement of the Maharashtra Police Act. Despite repeated action by the city police, the goons return to their turf without hesitation, commit serious crimes while in externment and walk out on bail hours after arrest - Are we looking at a failure of enforcement, or a flaw in the legal system itself? Externment under Section 55 of the Maharashtra Police Act allows Deputy Commissioner-level officers to expel history sheeters and habitual criminals from the district for six months to two years to maintain law and order. While this provision has long been a key weapon in the police’s preventive action arsenal, recent trends show that its effectiveness has severely diminished.

 

 

BETWEEN January 2024 and April 2025, the Nagpur Police issued externment orders against 183 criminals - many during last year’s Assembly elections to ensure peace. However, data reveals that at least 146 of those accused were later found violating the orders and staying in the city which exposed glaring loopholes in enforcement of the law. Criminals have not only returned to the district in violation of their orders but have often gone on to commit fresh crimes. Such incidents have raised serious concerns over the effectiveness of current law and order strategies, particularly the overreliance on externment without robust follow-up.

 

 

WHILE police have registered 146 cases under Section 142 against those who violated externment and arrested 16 criminals in the past three weeks alone, the deterrent value remains negligible due to the ease with which bail is granted. Many c r i m i n a l s are released shortly after their arrest and return to the city. This shows the externment practically meaningless. A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked, “We are sometimes asked to grant bail at the police station itself. When a criminal like Kamal Daka - arrested twice under Section 142 in three months again returns freely, it sends the message that there is no fear of the law.”

 

Scope for stricter action DESPITE its flaws, police say externment still has strategic value as it allows for escalated legal responses.Criminals who commit offenses while externed can be booked under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act. This enables the police to detain them for up to a year. However, this step is rarely taken and needs stronger implementation.

 

 

■ The Sitabuldi double murder, where the deceased criminal had been externed from the district.

■ The murder of Sosha cafe owner Avinash Bhusari, in which both accused were under externment.

■ A rape case committed by an externed goon who returned to the city despite externment orders.