379. Register of property stolen and of all property and articles taken charge of by the police. [§ 12, Act V, 1861].
(a)All property stolen, whether recovered or not, and all property and articles of which the police take charge, shall be entered in a register in B.P. Form No. 68. When any such property-is brought to the police-station, it shall be kept in the station malkhana until it is disposed of according to the order of the Magistrate or Court. In order to avoid loss to the parties, property which deteriorates very rapidly, such as fruit, etc., may be sold in anticipation of sanction which shall be obtained as soon as possible, and the sale proceeds thereof shall be sent to the Court officer.(b)The term "stolen property" is defined in section 410, Indian Penal Code.The amount of property to be entered as stolen and, recovered shall be the amount accepted by the Magistrate and shown in the final memo of the case.When promissory notes, bonds and other similar property are stolen, only the intrinsic and not the nominal value of the article stolen shall be entered.(c)All unclaimed property (see section 25, Police Act, 1861) shall be entered as soon as received at the police-station ; or in the case of property not brought to the police-station, but left where found, as soon as the report is authenticated by an officer. The provisions of sections 25 and 27, Police Act, 1861, apply to all unclaimed property of which any officer of the police may be the finder. When unclaimed property is sold, the sale shall in all cases be held by the Sub-Inspector of the Police-station and not by an Assistant Sub-Inspector.The police shall take over unclaimed arms and ammunition which they find in railway trains or on railway premises. Unclaimed arms and ammunition found by the officers of the railway, including Railway Police, shall be sent by them direct to the officers appointed by Government in this behalf and not, through the police.(d)Suspicious property seized by the police shall be entered, and a report shall be made at once to the Magistrate under the provisions of section 523, Code of Criminal Procedure.(e)Intestate property taken into the charge of the police shall also be entered. (See also regulation 251.)(f)Property, movable or immovable, of absconders under section 88, Code of Criminal Procedure, shall also be entered in this register. Undivided interests in the immovable family property of an absconding person who is a member of an undivided Hindu family can be attached under section 88 of that Code.(g)In the remarks column shall be entered the steps taken for disposal of the property and the abstract of the order of the authority of whom reports are sent.(h)When the Judge or Magistrate orders the property recovered or found to be returned to its owner or to any other person, the receipt of the person to whom it is to be returned shall be obtained in column 10 of the register and the date of return shall be put under his signature. If the property is sent to the Court for production before the Court at the time of trial or for any other purpose, a note shall be made in column 10 to that effect, giving the name of the constable by whom, and date on which, it was sent. The entry shall be signed by the officer-in-charge of the police-station. At the beginning of every month the senior station officer will give a certificate that he has satisfied himself that the items disposed of in the previous month have been correctly so disposed, that the receipts for such disposal are in order and that no property is unnecessarily pending.(i)At the end of the year all property not disposed of shall be brought forward in red ink.
