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Just 30 kilometres from the capital, the training institute of the Central Bureau of Investigation, or CBI, should not be more than a 40-minute drive. But between the traffic snarls and bumpy roads, the ride on Highway 24 to Ghaziabad takes twice as long. You leave the highway at what is called the Hapur Chungi, and a few kilometres down that road brings you to vendors selling oranges, car shades and toys, who point you ahead when you ask for directions. Sure enough, a few minutes later, you see a blue board with “CBI Academy” written in bold white letters.
It is the presence of some policemen outside the expansive precincts that indicates that this is the destination. Beyond the black grill gates, you can spy single and double-storeyed buildings that house the trainees of the country’s top investigative agencies. The red-and-brown sandstone finish of the building is somewhat similar to the grand structures in Delhi’s North Block where the ministry of personnel,which has the administrative control of CBI, resides. Used to the flashy, hi-tech arenas where celluloid heroes like James Bond and Ethan Hunt go through their paces, you are a tad disappointed at the sight of the academy in Ghaziabad. With air conditioners and dripping air coolers jutting out of glass windows, the training ground is quite different from the agency’s headquarters, a grand 12-floor glass-fronted edifice back in the city.
At the main lobby of the academy, two officers almost sceptically welcome you. Then as you enter the building, you notice the absence of x-ray conveyer belts, metal detectors, security gates and frisking, quite unlike at the CBI headquarters. This is then a place for academics after all.
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In the dim room, a retired police officer is giving a lecture on interrogation techniques: “Don’t go about asking direct questions about the case. First put the person at ease by talking to him about other things like films,” he says. Even for the trainer there is a framed instruction on the wall that reads: “As training is fundamentally a problem of communication, the trainer must constantly interest, motivate, challenge and instruct efficiently.” The eight-month curriculum encompasses basic computer training, mobile phone investigation, homicide cases, cultivation of sources and even a workshop on stress management, among other things.
Joining the investigation agency was not the first option for most of these cadets, which is why it is common to spot masters of business administration, degree holders in computer applications and bachelors in technology, among them. Several of them have even worked with big companies like Infosys before deciding to take the Staff Selection Commission exam to become a “CBI officer” — it is hard for any of them to say the two words without puffing out their chests. They know of the role that CBI has played in headline-grabbing scandals like the 2G spectrum auction and coal block allocations. Why, these financial fiddles are even part of their syllabus.
The walls of the room are replete with charts and diagrams about infamous scandals, those related to the National Rural Health Mission, in which Uttar Pradesh-based politicians and bureaucrats allegedly siphoned off funds meant for healthcare in rural areas, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee, where first information reports with the police accused public officials in Uttar Pradesh of misappropriation of government funds. The charts list the possible places where instances of corruption can be detected — in infrastructure, banks, telecom, power, railways, education and panchayats and municipality.
As J S Emmanuel, deputy superintendent of police, CBI, gives a guided tour of this 26-acre campus, he stresses how the facilities at the academy are comparable to those in any international institute of its kind. That’s not quite the whole truth. We know that the handful of cadets carrying their Dell and Vaio laptops to the class are among the first to have access to such basic technology. Wi-fi enabled hostels are also something of recent addition to the campus. If all goes according to plan, then the batches that come for the induction programme next year would enjoy an even better campus as the 15-acre farmland lying unused in its backyard will turn into a physical activity area. “We will have facilities for various sports built there. It will provide for better physical training to our officers,” says Emmanuel.
Back in the classroom, as the lecture breaks for lunch, 28-year-old Meenakshi Parmar, sub-inspector, shares her story about joining the agency. She says her father, Atar Singh Yadav, died in harness as a CBI sub-inspector, which led to her getting posted as a lower division clerk on compensatory grounds. But, she says, she really wanted to be in the thick of the action instead of being behind a desk. That is when she studied for and got a police rank. “This is such a prestigious job, especially for a woman,” she says brightly. “I really think it will help me make a difference to my country. That is what motivates me the most.”
What has her and all her classmates agog at the moment, however, is the upcoming weapons training programme and a visit to the Greater Noida shooting range, where for the first time, they will get to try their hands at using rifles and guns of various kinds. “The boys are obviously excited, but so are we,” says Parmar. “We are getting a chance to hold a weapon for the first time in our lives.”
The excitement of these bright-eyed officers on the ground floor is in stark contrast to another set of students receiving forensic training on the floor above. This is a group of middle-aged officers of the rank of inspector and above, here for a refresher programme. Not many seem interested in knowing how to enhance the quality of an image or secure high-resolution CCTV camera footage, perhaps having dealt with the actual troubles of doing so in real-life situations. So while the front benchers show some interest in the PowerPoint presentation, most of the others are busy Googling, checking rail reservations or simply daydreaming.
While training programmes and refresher courses at the CBI Academy last six to eight weeks, the sub-inspectors have to spend eight months on the campus. In the process, they also get to interact with their counterparts from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal, who send their officers here for training. Each sub-inspector gets to intern at the CBI headquarters with a senior officer for two weeks and also spends a few days at a rural police station to better understand policing procedures. “Many of these sub-inspectors rise up to the deputy inspector general rank and will lead major investigations,” says G K Goswami, director of the institution. “The academy is also evolving with better infrastructure. We often have qualified faculty visiting us from international agencies too.”
As the academic activities draw to an end at around 5 in the evening, the cadets assemble to shoot some hoops before calling it a day. One day, soon they won’t have time for such diversions, as they will be caught up in uncovering the nation’s multiplying scams.
