MADURAI: In response to a suggestion made by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court last month to form a separate wing for investigation in the police department, the State government informed the court on Monday that it would be implementing the idea in a phased manner across the State.
Representing the State government and the police, Advocate General S Shunmugasundaram and State Public Prosecutor Hassan Mohamed Jinnah, assisted by Additional Public Prosecutor A Thiruvadikumar, informed a Bench of justices MS Ramesh and N Anand Venkatesh that the Director General of Police (DGP) issued an order on November 4, 2022, for separation of the Law and Order and investigation wings in 11 taluk police stations (with one police station in each of the range headquarters) in the State on a trial basis. The scheme would also be implemented in all police stations in Coimbatore city by making the crime police stations in the city function as investigation wings, he added.
A status report filed on behalf of the DGP said, the decision was taken during a meeting conducted by the DGP with senior officers and other stakeholders on October 26. The police stations with substantial number of cases, adequate manpower and are convenient to monitor by senior officers were chosen, the report added. The DGP’s order dated November 4 said the investigation wing in the above stations will have two sub-inspectors or special sub-inspectors and 10 other ranks.
The wing would focus on serious offences, including murder, dacoity, robbery, suspicious death, and other major cases assigned to them, State PP Jinnah said. After evaluating the performance of the above scheme, it would be expanded to other police stations, the report said.
The advocate general assured the court that the personnel in the investigation wing would be provided sufficient training in investigation techniques and that a module for the same is already available in the police academy. The judges decided to hear the matter from time to time and adjourned the case to February 13, 2023.
The court made the recommendation for an exclusive investigation wing on October 10, 2022, in two criminal appeals filed in 2017. While disposing of appeals on November 29, 2019, the court proposed ways to address the issue of ‘witnesses turning hostile’ during trial. When the matter was listed last month for reporting compliance, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which probes are held into serious crime cases and advised a separate wing.