Speeding up investigations: Specialised homicide unit to use forensics to solve murders

IG says new squad will ensure justice, impartiality and efficiency

ISLAMABAD: A special unit has been constituted by the Islamabad Police to solve murder cases and ensure swift justice for the aggrieved parties. The Specialised Homicide Investigation Unit (SHIU) was inaugurated on Friday by Inspector General of the Islamabad Police Tariq Yaseen.

Yaseen said the purpose of establishing the new unit is to expedite investigations by using latest forensic and scientific techniques. He added that the unit will also help curb harassment of innocent people due to any biases.

“Elements of corruption or nepotism during investigation, if any, would be rooted out through the introduction of this new unit, which would work for justice in a transparent manner,” Yaseen said.

The unit consists of 30 officers including six professional inspectors with good academic qualifications. “To ensure justice, impartiality and efficiency, all officers for the unit are selected on the basis of educational qualification and scrutiny by special branch for integrity and honesty,” the IGP said. He also told The Express Tribune that SHIU officials are being trained in various courses relating to evidence collection, preservation of crime scene and completion of legal proceedings.

They will also be provided with the latest crime scene investigation kits.

To ensure proper handling of workload, each officer will investigate only 20 murder cases in a year and would not be assigned to other duties, the IGP added.

The Islamabad SHIU has been organised on the lines of the Punjab Police SHIU, which was also designed by Yaseen.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2016.