Toenforce strict investigation compliance and to improve the conviction rate incriminal cases, especially heinous crimes and crimes against women, childrenand other weaker sections, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh onSaturday ordered specific targets to be set for investigation of criminal casesby police officers across ranks.
Withthis, all police officers, from the rank of CPs and SPs down to SHOs, SIs andHCs, will now be required to personally investigate and present challans in aset number of cases in a year, with strict level of supervision by the seniorofficers. Regular follow-ups, as well as close coordination with prosecutionand law officers, has also been made mandatory as per the Chief Minister’sdirectives, which are aimed at ensuring strict compliance with no laxity.
Asper the directives issued by DGP Dinkar Gupta on the orders of the ChiefMinister, who is also in charge of the Home portfolio, ADCPs in the threePolice Commissionerates and SPs postedin the districts shall personally investigate at least 6 heinous crime cases ina year and submit challans under their own name, while ACP/ DSP Sub-Divisionshave been tasked with personally investigating atleast 8 heinous crime cases ina year and submit challans under their own name.
SPs/DSPsof PBI and Investigation/Detective shall personally investigate at least 18crime cases in a year, including those of heinous IPC crime, commercialquantity NDPS cases etc, and submit challans under their own name, withall similarly mandated to investigateand submit challans in atleast 6 heinous crime cases in a year. The targets also cover SHOs of over 400police stations, who shall investigate at least 8 heinous crime cases and filechallans in a year.
TheChief Minister said he had been constrained to set these targets afterobserving that investigation and prosecution of cases, which should be the key jobof all police officers, has taken a back seat due to commitment to Law &Order duties, work pressures and lack of supervision by the gazetted policeofficers who are responsible for enforcing accountability of the InvestigatingOfficers of various ranks.
Thus,to enforce accountability, Supervisory Officers (SPs/SDPOs and DSPs) have nowbeen directed to personally involve themselves with the investigations of allserious and sensitive crimes and enter Supervision Notes in the crime files,write running crime notebook and issue written directions essential forimproving the quality to investigations, while CP/SSPs have been asked toensure that all the SOs posted in the districts also comply with the directionsas per the targets set for investigation by various officers.
Thesituation was particularly worrying in heinous crime cases, such as murder,attempt to murder, armed robbery/dacoity, Rape, Kidnapping, extortion, POCSOAct, NDPS Act cases of commercial quantity, UAPA Act, IT Act, and other sensationcases involving crimes against women, children and weaker sections of societyor crimes having inter-state ramifications. Even in such cases, the ChiefMinister said he noticed that the SOsare not being guided and directed by senior officers in carrying out andfollowing up the investigations in an efficient and effective manner. Further,it had also been noticed that SHOs and SIs posted in Police Stations do notpersonally investigate heinous crime cases and often mark these cases to lowersubordinates, in gross violation of the provisions of the law.
Thelatest directives require that in Special Reported (SR) cases, especiallymurder, rape, atrocities against weaker sections of society, women andchildren, and other sensitive and sensational cases, the ACP / DSPSub-Divisions and officers of PBI shall camp at the scene of crime till thecase is solved. They shall guide the SHOs during the investigation processthrough clear and lucid supervisory notes given in the Case file.
Asfar as investigations by NGOs and Head Constables (HCs) are concerned, the DGP,in line with the Chief Minister’s orders, has directed that directly recruitedSub Inspectors shall investigate at least 8 heinous crime cases, 10 Minor IPCcases and 10 Local & Special Law cases in a period of one year. PromotedSub Inspectors and Assistant Sub Inspectors posted in Police Stations shallinvestigate at least 6 heinous crime cases, 10 other IPC cases and 15 Local andSpecial Law cases in a period of one year, while regular HCs shall investigateat least 5 Minor IPC cases and 10 Local & Special Law cases in a year..
Allthese officers shall be responsible for developing leads and carrying out allinvestigation related tasks, including organizing raids, search, seizure,investigation, preparing of challan and monitoring-pairvi of trials.
Theinvestigations of all Special Reported cases shall be meticulously perused andcoordinated by SOs with Prosecution Officers for proper trial management. TheSOs shall also coordinate with the Prosecution/Law Officers for ensuring theattendance and proper deposition by witnesses in important and sensitive cases,to ensure cancellation of bail, obtaining police remand and securing convictionof the accused in such case.
TheDGP has further directed that IGP/DIG Ranges, CPs and SSPs shall ensure meticulouscompliance of these directions and send a Compliance Report, along with thelist of heinous crime cases being investigated by SOs, SHOs and directlyrecruited SIs to DBoI Punjab, by 5th January, 2021.
IGP/DIGRanges will be responsible for holding Monthly Crime Meetings while the CPs andSSPs will hold Weekly Crime Meetings. Apart from other issues, IGP/DIG Rangesand CPs and SSPs will review the compliance with the above directions regardinginvestigation of cases during such meetings.
Apartfrom the field hierarchy, the above instructions would also be complied with byall the Wings, including the BoI/Cyber Crime, STF, CI (SSOC), NRI, GRP.
Guptasaid the Chief Minister had earlier notified the Punjab Bureau of Investigation(PBI) and sanctioned over 125 posts of SPs and DSPs for the detection of heinous crimes. Another 800 posts ofdomain experts, in the fields of law, forensics, commerce, IT and cyber crimes,had been sanctioned to supportcomplex investigations.