COIMBATORE: A record of daily investigation into a case, a case diary is an important tool handled by the police personnel. The use of this diary is mandated as per Section 172 of The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973. And why is the diary important?
It contains the records of the time at which the information reached the investigating officer, the time at which he/she began and closed the investigation, the places he/she visited, and a statement of the circumstances ascertained through his/her investigation.
To help understand its significance, the Coimbatore city police has initiated an efficiency development programme, as part of which 25 directly recruited Sub Inspectors were put to test on Saturday. They were assessed on their knowledge on maintaining a case diary for a model murder case. Initiated by City Police Commissioner Deepak M Damor, the programme aims to develop the work efficiency of all police personnel in the city limits. More tests will be continued in a phased manner for other police personnel.
The session for the first batch started with writing a case diary, maintained by police officers while investigating a case, that contains all details about the same. The session ended in the evening after analysing their write-ups by exchanging the answer papers among themselves.
“We usually work on case diaries at stations as a team. But the test followed by the training helps us write the complete case diary single-handedly, and builds confidence among us. It will also help us prepare case diaries without any flaws. We hope that it will sharpen our views with updates like recent court directions and amendments that should be followed in an investigation,” said an SI, who wrote the test.
“Sub-inspectors, who were recruited directly, have already attended such classes during their training. The programme helps them update themselves with the recent developments,” said an official in-charge of the training programme. The training classes for the 64 directly recruited SIs will be conducted in two phases. Apart from them, all police personnel will be imparted skill development training based on their work nature.
The officials are also planning to conduct tests for registering a First Information Report (FIR) with all details and proper sections of the Indian Penal Code, special and local laws. Such legal classes and tests will improve the efficiency of investigating officials and it would help them to take cases in a proper manner.
“Apart from this, each and everyone, from the inspector to the constable, have been given training related to their work nature for three days a week. As many as 609 people are participating in it. Similarly, 240 personnel from the Armed Reserve are given training for an hour and a half daily, for six days a week. So far, sessions on 27 topics have been completed. Senior police officers and experts are participating and providing guidance to them,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner N Silambarasan, a nodal officer for the programme.
Silambarasan further said that they are training Armed Reserve police personnel on how to handle weapons and escort prisoners. Personnel attending the court were trained on how to maintain court case diaries, produce the witness on time, etc. “Police in the patrol are trained on conducting vehicle checks and how to behave with people. The intelligence teams are trained on finding sources and improving inputs on time,” he said. “The basic level training programme has been scheduled for next four months for all the police personnel,” added the officer.