HYDERABAD: Sindhs’ Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon has said that weak prosecution results in acquittal of suspects as inept investigating officers do not work adequately on their cases, leaving lacunas that create doubts in the minds of judges and they prefer to avoid conviction.

Mr Memon said at a briefing at local press club on Tuesday evening that police were a basic unit of criminal justice system but their performance remained below par. He planned to bring reforms in the investigation wing, which needed to be upgraded to have maximum conviction rate, he said.

He said that it was only possible when competent IOs were recruited and investigation of cases was incentivised. “We have proposed that 50pc of the cost of investigation should be paid to the IOs concerned in advance and the remaining amount should be paid after the completion of the probe. In case of conviction the prosecutor and the IO must be rewarded,” he said.

He said that a weak prosecution resulted in acquittal of suspects. Under new legislation, recovery of 50 gram narcotics was punishable with death penalty but it was possible only after the IO had prepared a strong case, he said.

“We are going for short term improvement initially and preparing a list of IOs who will be posted for three years. They will not be transferred before this period and will serve in the investigation wing alone so that they are able to gain expertise,” he said.

He said that police should make optimum use of technology and have less dependence on ocular evidence. “IOs must see to it that all prosecution witnesses [PWs] are those who are actually present,” at the crime scene, he remarked and said that “police also face credibility issue and this needs to be overcome”.

Conviction rate should be a yardstick for competence of IOs instead of ‘recovery’ of certain quantum of narcotics, he said.

Secondly, he said, technological input in investigation and policing would lead to better results in next four to five years. “If we only keep talking we will be heading nowhere but the positive thing is that the government is responding to our proposals,” he said.

He informed that Sindh police would install smart reading and special recognition cameras at 40 toll plazas across the province.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2022