Fine arts of probe lost to tech

Recently, the Madras High Court came down heavily on the Tamil Nadu police for the ‘shoddy investigation’ conducted by it while setting aside a trial court order and acquitting 15 people accused in a gruesome triple murder case. This is just one of the instances where the shoddy investigation of Tamil Nadu police had an adverse end, even as the dwindling conviction rate in murder cases has been a cause of concern for the department. 

Police inspectors, who are the station house officers and investigation officers by default, cite several reasons for the deterioration in the quality of investigation. Many blame their superior officers, who depute them to several other duties, even when they are pursuing a murder investigation. As a result, Tamil Nadu police have almost given up on the traditional, well-proven techniques of investigation and are only focussing on modern investigation techniques, which, according to experts, could only lead them to the arrest of the accused but cannot guarantee conviction. 

“It is true that the quality of investigation has gone down considerably. Work pressure is the prime reason and wrong approach of the superior officers who handle the inspectors investigating the case,” a Deputy Commissioner of Police said. Police have even stopped using photographers to click pictures of the scene of crime.

He said the increase in number of offences has been putting a lot of pressure on the station house officers. “Traditionally, the local inspector, who is the investigation officer for crimes that happen within his jurisdiction, has a free hand to investigate the case and other inspectors are roped in to trace the accused and arrest them. Nowadays, such clear demarcation does not happen,” the official added. 

Inspectors allege that they could not prepare a proper inquest, or analyse the crime scene as they are directed to follow some other leads related to the investigation by the superior officer. Most of the time, the head constable or others would prepare the inquest, that too an incomplete one, sources said. “When a murder happens in my jurisdiction, the first thing I have to handle is the superior officer. He will come down hard on me for letting the crime happen. I 

would be deputed to investigate a murder case maybe after hours long bundobust duty. I may not have the concentration or the inclination to do a detailed inquest. If I brush aside all this and finally start preparing an inquest, I may be directed by the superiors to follow a specific lead in the same case,” a police inspector on request of anonymity told DT Next. 

Officers with expertise in investigation say that it is very important to depute a police inpector to do a detailed inquest and follow up the murder case personally, if conviction rates are to improve. When ‘other works’ like bundobust, providing security at demonstrations or to VIPs take a majority of the policing time, crime investigation suffers. Police are now more keen on ‘cracking’ the case, which could mean merely to arrest the accused and to get media publicity. Acquittal of several such ‘accused’ is hardly followed upon and a case disappears from the public purview once the arrests are made. “The concept of investigation is now restricted to the investigation to arrest the accused. The investigators are not very keen on securing conviction for the accused they have arrested and that is why they are not keen on a proper inquest and follow up,” the official added. 

When contacted, a senior police official attached to the CB-CID said that local police do their job but many contributory factors cause the acquittal. “Some inspectors follow the rule book in investigation and some do not. But investigation alone does not decide the acquittal part. Non-cooperation from witnesses, witnesses turning hostile and the court’s insistence on proving the crime beyond all doubt, are all contributory factors that may lead to acquittal. Long drawn trials are also a reason,” he added. 

Commenting on the trend, R Nataraj, former DGP, said, “In all metros, we need to a have a separate homicide squad. When someone is posted to such a squad, everyone forgets them. Only when there is a sensational murder case does every top police enter the scene. Also, the problem is everyone wants to be posted in Law and Order. The issue with this approach is that when you go to court you do not get conviction.”