Team Herald
PANJIM: While most of the directives issued by Supreme Court related to police reforms are gathering dust for over 15 years, separation of law and order duties from investigation has finally seen the light of the day.
The department, which has been functioning sans Goa Police Bill, has separated the two wings of the police in order to further improve policing. Director General of Police I D Shukla recently issued a standing order for complying with one of these directives of the Apex Court.
“We have divided the existing staff at each police station in the ratio of 70:30 wherein 70 per cent staff is allocated to law and order duty, and the rest are dedicated for investigation of FIRs,” he told Herald.
On September 22, 2006, a three-Bench of the Apex Court in Prakash Singh and others versus Union of India and others issued several directions which included Separation of Investigation. As per this directive, the investigating police shall be separated from the law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with the people.
“It must, however, be ensured that there is full coordination between the two wings,” it said.
DGP Shukla conceded that several FIRs are pending investigation for months and years and that the new implementation is expected to expedite the probe.
“There are a number of cases pending since months and years. We are giving more investigating officers to the rank of Sub Inspectors for investigation and likewise, 3-4 PSIs for law and order who will perform 8 hours of duty. The station in-charge will monitor every bit in its respective polices stations,” he added.
Considering the number of FIRs and the size of the police stations, the DGP has divided these into three categories to ensure smooth functioning. The DGP also emphasised that the system cannot be “dismantled” or “diluted” other than rotating the staff .
The crime investigation team will also handle the petty cases, which will be balanced among the investigation officers. The police stations, Shukla said, are also allotted personnel with cyber knowledge to exclusively handle cyber related offences.
“We are working towards capacity building and empowerment,” he said.
