The Hindu : New Delhi News : Case for a crime investigation arm

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Case for a crime investigation arm

The manner in which the Delhi police spends time, manpower and resources in solving cases, several of which reach a dead end, only strengthens the case for separating law and order duties from crime investigation, says Prashant Pandey

IN THE past one year, the Delhi police have pulled out all stops in their bid to catch the culprits of the Swiss diplomat rape case but have not been successful. But more than pointing fingers at the police, what is perhaps necessary is to have another look at the long-pending suggestion from the experts about separating law and order duties from crime investigation.

There is no doubt that a lot of time and resources of the police went into trying to solve this case. The number of police personnel deployed, the number of people questioned and the number of hours put into this case can be matched perhaps only by the fact that the highest reward -- Rs. 4 lakhs -- has been announced for anybody providing information leading to the arrest of the culprit. The Special Investigation Team was set up long ago and the police are still not treating the case as unsolved.

The problem for the police is that they have not reached a dead end in this case. Rather they are yet to get their first vital lead. Without that, all efforts would essentially be like shooting in the dark. But then investigation and detection are a time-consuming process. About three years ago, the police had managed to solve a 15-year-old double murder case reported from Greater Kailash in New Delhi. Several factors like availability of forensic evidence, questioning of those who know the victim and a healthy dose of luck have to come together for a case to be solved.

Yet it is not all that subjective. For instance, in the Pushkin Chandra murder case in August it was some basic, rigorous policing which helped the police solve the mystery. In another double murder case, reported from South-West Delhi in June, the Delhi police had coordinated with their Uttar Pradesh counterparts on time which helped them arrest the accused within a couple of days.

In other words, availability of crucial information, quick dissemination, and coordination with other police forces, or even with other units of the same police, determine the outcome of an investigation to a large extent. And this has been underlined time and again in various studies, suggestions and recommendations made by the elite commissions and bodies like the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD).

However, as things stand, once an incident occurs, the entire force of the area -- depending on how sensational the incident is -- gets involved. While they may or may not catch the culprits, their daily functioning is affected. Moreover, under tremendous media pressure, the police often try to solve the case as soon as possible which leaves a lot of scope for mistakes. There is always a risk of the term "sustained interrogation" being taken a bit too far in order to show that they have "got the man". This, in the long term, affects the case with the police failing to ensure conviction.

Needless to add, though, studies and recommendations are always the easiest part of any reform process. Making them a reality is the real challenge which the powers-that-be somehow keep shirking from.

It is not that the authorities would like the Capital's police force to be seen as the second best in business -- mostly in times of crises like increase in terrorist activities -- but their upgradation and restructuring is certainly not a priority for them.

After all, it was a public interest litigation by a citizen more than five years ago which resulted in the commissioning of one of the comprehensive studies on reforms by the BPRD in the first place. There was no doubt that implementation was going to be a long process. Provided the people who matter were really interested.

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