Curbing crime: Homicide units begin work

478 officers have been assigned duties at these units.

LAHORE:

Specialised homicide investigation units have been set up across the province, Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Sukhera said on Wednesday.

He was addressing a seminar.

He said 478 officers had been assigned duties at these units.

The IGP said the investigation officers would be assisted by 1,489 trained officials.

He said the investigation officers would operate from police stations.

He said 78 officers would work in Lahore, 52 in Sheikhupura, 75 in Gujranwala, 45 in Rawalpindi, 52 in Faisalabad, 33 in Sargodha, 40 in Multan, 36 in Sahiwal, 32 in Bahawalpur and 35 in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The IGP said the programme had begun last year.

He said 2,000 officers were selected from across the province. The selection was vetted by the Special Branch.

He said 540 officers had been picked for investigation training at Police Training College, Chuhng, Lahore. He said 478 had passed the course.

He said they were trained by forensic experts in collecting evidence, preservation of the crime scene and completion of legal proceedings.

Sukhera said each of officers would investigate 20 murder cases a year.

He said they would be supervised and monitored by DSPs and SDPOs.

The IGP said the investigation officers had been provided 128 investigation kits with basic tools to examine a crime scene and collect evidences.

“The cost of each kit is Rs35,000,” he said. “I hope these officers will perform their duties honestly and professionally to make the Punjab a peaceful and crime-free province,” he said.

Multan RPO Tariq Masood Yasin spoke on the training process of the investigation officers.

Cesar Guedes, of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said the UNODC had helped Punjab Police develop mobile crime scene investigation units in Gujrat, Gujranwala and Sialkot.

He said the UNODC would provide 550 first responder kits for protection of the crime scene.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2015.