Mumbai, Dec 28 (PTI) From capturing a murder suspect absconding for 24 years to tracking an accused in a financial fraud case through school records, the Maharashtra police's new initiative of making weekly
visits by senior officers mandatory has helped crack cold cases and considerably reduced pendency.
The Solapur city police recently arrested a couple, wanted in a three-year-old financial fraud case, after an assistant commissioner of police, during a weekly review, directed the investigating officer to check the school records of their children.
By tracing the Permanent Education Number (PEN) and Unified District Information System on Education (UDISE) data, officers discovered that the records had been transferred to a school in a remote district of Andhra Pradesh, leading to the couple's arrest for the Rs 2 crore fraud.
In March this year, the Director General of Police issued an order mandating the Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP) and Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs) to visit all police stations once a week, besides their regular calendar.
"It came to the notice of the DGP office that at many units, after a crime registered, supervisory officers do not periodically review the case papers prepared by the investigating officers (IO)," a senior police official told PTI.
Police inspectors, SDPOs, ACPs and DCPs had not been reviewing the records at the police stations under their jurisdiction regularly, because of which key decisions and leads were not being pursued during the probe into cases, he said.
"As per the order, all unit commanders were asked to prepare a weekly or fortnightly calendar of visits of ACPs and DySPs at police stations under their jurisdiction," he said.
This has ensured that these senior officers visit every police station under their jurisdiction at least once a week, he said, adding that the visit schedule must be in addition to regular visits for law and order, surprise checks or formal police station inspections.
In-charge officers have been asked to ensure that at least 25 per cent of the investigating officers are present with their case files, including active crime investigations, accidental death cases and complaint applications, he said.
According to officials, the overall results have been positive, and the percentage of pending cases has come down, and chargesheets have been error-free.
"The initiative has helped police clear pending cases and increased the detection rate of the cases. As the officers of ACP and DySP ranks regularly monitor the developments, it becomes more professional," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Nikhil Gupta, told PTI.
To ensure accountability, the Maharashtra police will soon launch a portal on which ACPs and DySPs will have to fill details about their visits to police stations, he said.
This will be monitored by seniors, including officers from the state police headquarters, said Gupta, who conceptualised the initiative across the state.
"We have also asked our officers to make the visit calendar public, so that citizens will also be able to meet these officers with their grievances and complaints," he said.
In Raigad, the initiative has helped in the arrest of a murder accused who had been absconding for 24 years, Superintendent of Police Anchal Dalal told PTI.
"Once every week, ACP or DySP sitting with the IOs with case papers, reviewing and following up, makes a big impact", she said.
In the Konkan Region alone, 8,203 case papers were reviewed between March and November, including 2,046 in Palghar, 1,816 in Raigad, and 1,989 cases in Thane Rural.
In Mumbai, regular visits by DCPs and grievance initiatives like Takrar Nivaran already exist, and the Mumbai Police Commissioner himself meets citizens weekly to hear complaints, another official said.
After the implementation of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the role of ACP became limited. Earlier, under the Criminal Procedure Code, an ACP-rank officer could take preventive actions, but this power has now been given to DCPs or SPs, he said.
"The initiative has helped the police force bring down the number of pending cases and increase detection," Solapur city Police Commissioner M Raj Kumar told PTI. PTI DC ARU
