Police Complaint Letter to the SHO

What is a Police Complaint Letter to the SHO?

A police complaint letter is your written account to the Station House Officer (SHO) of what happened, when and where, what was lost or damaged, and what you are asking the police to do. It gives the police the information they need to act, and it gives you a dated record that you reported the matter. Without one, details shift in the retelling, and a bank, insurer or telecom operator asking for proof that you reported it has nothing to rely on.

People write to the SHO after a theft, the loss of a phone, wallet or documents, a vehicle taken from outside their home, damage to property, harassment, a dispute with a neighbour that has turned threatening, or an online fraud. Shopkeepers write after a break-in, and residents' associations about repeated trouble in a street. For some of these a simple lost-article report is enough; for others the letter is the information from which the police register a First Information Report (FIR). Either way, the police start from what you write, so its accuracy matters more than its length.

In India, criminal procedure now comes from the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure from 1 July 2024. Older guides that cite section 154 of the CrPC are out of date; the matching provision is section 173 of the BNSS. Police is a State subject, so online complaint portals, lost-article reports and local practice differ between State police forces — check your State police website. Cyber fraud has a national portal, cybercrime.gov.in, and helpline 1930. Outside India, report to the local police force, often online for non-urgent matters, and use the local emergency number.

The letter reports facts. It does not decide what offence was committed, prove anything or replace legal advice. Whether the police register an FIR depends on whether the information discloses a cognizable offence, which the law and the police decide, not the wording of your letter. Keep strictly to what you know, because a false complaint is itself an offence. For anything serious — violence, threats, sexual offences, a large fraud, or any matter in which you might yourself be accused — speak to a lawyer. And in an emergency, call 112 first; do not stop to write a letter.

What to put in a Police Complaint Letter to the SHO

These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.

How to write a Police Complaint Letter to the SHO

1. Address the SHO and give your details

   Address the Station House Officer by the name of the police station and district — ‘The Station House Officer, (name) Police Station, Guntur’, for example. Give your full name, address and a phone number you will answer. Information about a cognizable offence can be given at any police station, wherever it happened; an FIR recorded that way is often called a Zero FIR, and it is passed to the station for that area.

2. Say what the complaint is about

   Give the letter a subject line that names the matter in a few words: ‘Theft of motorcycle from outside my house’ or ‘Loss of mobile phone at the bus stand’. Then, in the first line of the body, say in one sentence what happened and when. The officer reading it should know what kind of matter it is before reaching the details.

3. Set out when, where and what happened

   Give the date and the time, or the window of time — ‘between 10 pm and 6 am the next morning’. Give the exact place, with a landmark. Then tell events in the order they happened, keeping what you saw apart from what you were told, and name any witnesses. Describe people you saw rather than guessing who they were, and write only what you know to be true.

4. Describe items so they can be identified

   For a phone, give the make, model, colour and IMEI numbers from the box or bill, and the mobile number. For a vehicle, give the registration, chassis and engine numbers. For documents, give the type and number, so the issuing office can block or reissue them. For cash or jewellery, give the amount or a description and an approximate value. Identifying details are what let recovered property come back to you.

5. State your request and list enclosures

   Say what you are asking the police to do: register an FIR and investigate, trace the phone, or record the loss and give you a copy for a duplicate document or an insurance claim. List what you enclose — the bill, photographs, a copy of your ID, CCTV footage if you have it. Sign and date the letter, keep a copy, and ask for an acknowledgment on it.

Police complaint letter sample

Here is a complaint about a lost mobile phone, set out the way the form on this page lays it out.

Documents to attach to a police complaint

• Attach copies, not originals, list each one under Enclosures, and take the originals with you in case the officer wants to compare them.
• For a lost or stolen phone, attach the purchase bill or the box label that shows the IMEI numbers.
• For a vehicle, attach copies of the registration certificate and the insurance policy.
• For lost documents, give each document’s number and the office that issued it, and attach any photocopy you still have.
• For a theft or break-in, attach photographs, a list of what was taken with bills where you have them, and any CCTV footage on a pen drive.
• For online fraud, attach screenshots of the messages, the transaction IDs and the bank statement that shows the debit.
• If you were hurt, attach copies of any medical reports you have; the police may also arrange a medical examination.
• Add a copy of your own identity proof, since many police stations ask for one.

How to file a complaint at the police station

First check that the matter is one for the police. Some problems feel like police matters but are usually civil disputes: money someone owes you, a faulty product, a deposit a landlord keeps, or a quarrel over a boundary wall. The police may record your complaint and then send you to a civil court, a consumer commission or another authority. Check the current procedure with the police station or a lawyer. Threats and violence are police matters, and in an emergency you should call 112.

Take the signed letter and a second copy to the police station, along with your originals. The officer at the front desk may ask you to explain what happened and may note further details. Before you leave, ask for an acknowledgment on your copy: the station’s stamp, the date, the receiving officer’s name and any receipt or register number. What that number is called varies from State to State.

After that, the police may call you to show them the place, give a fuller statement or identify recovered property, so keep the phone number you gave them working. Note the name of the officer handling the matter. Many State police websites let you view a registered FIR or check a complaint’s status; otherwise, ask at the station. If property is found, the police will tell you how to get it back, which can take time and sometimes needs a court order.

Common mistakes

• Adding details you did not see or naming culprits on a guess, which weakens the complaint and, where the statement is false, is itself an offence.
• Leaving out the IMEI, serial, registration or chassis number, which leaves the police nothing to match if the item turns up.
• Giving a vague time and place such as ‘last week, near the market’, which makes it hard to check CCTV or find witnesses while the trail is fresh.
• Leaving the station without a copy or an acknowledgment, so you cannot show when you reported the matter when a bank, insurer or telecom operator asks.
• Sitting down to write a letter while someone is in danger instead of calling 112, which loses the minutes that matter most.

Frequently asked questions

This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.

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