Panchkula police have found six to seven delivery personnel working for food-delivery, e-commerce and other companies who have criminal cases registered against them, prompting the department to seek explanations from the firms about their recruitment and verification procedures.
Panchkula police commissioner Pankaj Nain told The Times of India that the findings emerged during a city-wide verification drive for delivery personnel operating in the district. “Following our verification drive, we found six to seven people with criminal cases. This is a serious matter. We are writing to the companies asking what checks were conducted before hiring them and why persons with such backgrounds were employed,” Nain said.
Police teams from local police stations, police posts and special units collected and checked details of delivery workers during the exercise. The information included names, mobile numbers, permanent and present addresses, identity documents and details of the companies employing them. Police also contacted delivery firms operating in the district and obtained data relating to their riders.
The department said it was compiling details of the cases and would prepare a comprehensive report before releasing further information. The police commissioner did not disclose the identities of the workers or the nature of the cases in the information available in the report.
The companies concerned are expected to explain what background checks were carried out before the workers were hired, whether any criminal records were disclosed during recruitment and what employee-verification systems are currently in place. Police have also directed companies and agencies to maintain complete employee records and conduct periodic verification.
The exercise extends beyond checking a worker’s identity at the time of joining. Police want companies to update their records when a delivery worker leaves one firm and joins another. Officials said an updated database would help authorities identify and trace individuals more effectively if required during an investigation.
Delivery workers routinely enter residential neighbourhoods to deliver food, parcels and online purchases. The police said the drive was intended to strengthen security and maintain an effective information network, rather than target any particular profession or group. The issue has particular relevance in neighbourhoods where elderly residents live alone and may have frequent contact with delivery personnel.
The verification drive reflects the administrative challenge created by a rapidly expanding delivery workforce operating across city limits. Workers may be employed directly by companies or through agencies, while their movement between firms can make employee records difficult to maintain unless companies update them regularly.
Police said further information would be shared after the case details had been compiled and the comprehensive report prepared. The department’s next steps will include seeking responses from the companies and assessing whether their employee-screening and record-maintenance processes meet the requirements communicated during the drive.
