Sagar
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: While the Commissionerate Police is under tremendous pressure to dispose of all pending cases in 30 days, some cops have begun demanding separation of investigation wing from law and order duties.
All officers, right from sub-inspectors to inspectors, have been given a target of closing eight to ten cases a month. The assignments, if taken up by every police station, would clear at least 40 cases a month.
The pressure to clear pendency of cases was so intense that officers had to work overnight until 2015-end. The drive is still on. Some officers are reported to have hired writers to get their charge-sheets drafted and investigation procedures finalised.
“Where is the time for investigation? For a month, officers from top to bottom remained engaged in Assembly duty during the winter session. On other days, you have to go on patrolling and visit spots when SOS from public comes,” said a police official.
“Most of the time we stand along road guarding VIP movements. How can we finish 10 cases in 20 days,” whined another.
In 2014, a division bench of Justices TS Thakur, C Nagappan and Adarsh Kumar Goel reprimanded the state government for not implementing its 2006 order instructing separation of law and order duties of police officers from crime investigation. It has asked the state government to report action taken after its 2006 order.
The Union government told the Delhi High Court December 28 that it would soon separate crime investigation from maintenance of law and order in Delhi police. In November, the Karnataka High Court directed the state government to delink law and order from investigation of crime.
The city police have around 500 unsolved cases in which investigation has still not been completed. Six months ago, the Mahila police station had at least 300 cases pending. The Commissionerate police asked the local police stations to register all cases of kidnap of women and assault on women at their respective police stations and not transfer them to Mahila police station until it clears all pending cases.
Although the order was valid for three months, Mahila police continues to register only rape and dowry death cases and turns away crime cases against women to respective police stations of such occurrence.
Police officials who have been grumbling about workload, have not been expressing it to their seniors. “We are in a job where we cannot express our dissent. We can’t hold demonstrations or go on strike. If someone dares, he or she will immediately be sacked or demoted,” said another official.
Many said they have no shift system or definite working hours unlike in Delhi police.
