The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989
Section 17. Preventive action to be taken by the law and other machinery
(1) A District Magistrate or a Sub-Divisional Magistrate or any other Executive Magistrate or any police officer not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police may, on receiving information and after such inquiry as he may think necessary, hag reason to believe that a person or a group of persons not belonging to the Scheduled Castes and or the Scheduled Tribes, residing in or frequenting any place within the local limits of the jurisdiction is likely to commit any offence or has threatened to commit any offence under this Act and is of the opinion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding, declare such an area to be an area prone to atrocities and take necessary action for keeping the peace and good behaviour and maintenance of public order and transfer quality and may take preventive action.
(2) The provision of Chapter VIII, X and XI of the Code shall, so far as may be, apply for the purposes of subsection (1).
(3) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make one or more schemes specifying the manner in which the officers referred to in sub-section (1) shall take appropriate action specified in such schemes to prevent atrocities and to restore the feeling of security amongst the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
The Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989