Pb Cab approves creation of separate police wing for probe

The Punjab Cabinet today approved the creation of a separate police wing for investigation of cases to "strengthen" policing in the state and ensure proper probe of heinous cases of crime.

The move, in line with the directives of various courts in this regard, will lead to the separation of law and order machinery from the investigation wing, with the state government creating specialised crime units in every district, an official release said here.

These units will be headed by an officer, not below the rank of inspector, with an appropriate strength of officers and staff, for investigating such categories of specialised crime, as may be deemed appropriate, the release said.
 

The investigation staff shall ordinarily not be diverted for any other duties, except under exceptional circumstances, with the permission of the Inspector General of Police of the Range concerned, as per the amendments to Sections 36 of the Punjab Police Act 2007 approved by the Cabinet.

The decision constitutes a part of the series of reforms initiated by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to infuse new energy in the police force and improve the law and order situation in the state, the release said.

It may be recalled that Singh had earlier this month directed immediate steps to complete the formalities and process, by November 30, 2017, for the separation of Investigation and Law and Order duties, along with the creation of separate cadres.

Under the new system, separate Investigation Units (IUs) and Pairvi Units (PUs) have been envisaged up to the level of police Stations, the release said.

While the IUs would be solely dedicated to serious and heinous crimes to ensure that the investigation of such cases is completed in a time-bound manner, the Pairvi Units will ensure proper presentation and contesting of criminal cases before the trial courts, it said.

The move is prompted by the need to keep the function of investigation separate from law and order duties so that investigation of heinous crimes, in particular, does not get hindered due to any urgency in the law and order duties, the release said.