Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
- This in turn was result of senior officers’ attitude is not serious in ensuring their juniors do not take investigations lightly
By Dheeraj Fartode
The falling rate of conviction and shoddy investigations are two parts of same coin. Aiming to reverse the tide in Maharashtra, annual appraisal of Unit Commanders would now depend on conviction rate. Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Dayal has drafted the new policy in a last ditch attempt to remove complacency that has set in the force.
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| DGP, Maharashtra of Police, Sanjeev Dayal |
Once Unit Commanders realise their appraisal that equals to promotion and conviction rate would go hand in hand, it should have desired impact on the field officers who would shed the chalta hai attitude. The improvement in investigation is below expectation, the letter states and identified its reason to Unit Commanders lack of personal involvement. “Annual evaluation of Unit Commanders will depend fairly on their performance on supervisory control, evaluation of evidence and proper scrutiny of case papers,” is the tenor of the circular issued on behalf of DGP.
At the bi-annual conference, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Home Minister R R Patil had addressed the top brass of Maharashtra Police. The meet is also time for brain storming and obviously declining rate of convictions figured prominently. And one of the prime culprit was obviously lack of dedication among lower rung staff about investigations. This in turn was result of senior officers’ attitude is not serious in ensuring their juniors do not take investigations lightly. Also the aim must be that cases should stand scrutiny in the court of law, the sources further said.
Role of supervisory officers, Sub Divisional Police Officers (SDPOs), Additional Superintendents of Police (Addl. SP) and Unit Commanders, either Commissioners of Police (CPs) or Superintendents of Police (SPs) is crucial in investigations, as they are supposed to guide investigating teams, proper scrutiny of case papers, evaluation of evidence so that chargesheet filed in court of law is water tight. But he lamented that these basic things are not happening the way outlined in police manual.
Further the DGP has outlined the role of supervisory control, insisting on regular visits by SDPOs wherein such minute aspects relating to follow-up of investigations, directions to field cops and screening of chargesheets are done on regular basis. And this can happen only when Unit Commanders is personally involved in policing. Finally the DGP has expected visible change in the matter without wasting any time.
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