In the case of crime against children if an accused is acquitted, an appeal will be made in the higher courts after due study and scrutiny of the case and the verdict, the chief minister said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday asserted that the state police will be among the country's top ten forces by 2026 due to sustained reforms. Assam has shown a remarkable improvement in the registration of cases and filing of chargesheets but was lagging behind in convictions, Sarma said at a press conference held on the concluding day of the convention of superintendents of police at Bongaigaon.
''The conviction rate has increased from the earlier 5.6 per cent in 2021 to 14 per cent now. We aim to increase it to 20 per cent by the end of this year and by 2026 to 50 per cent, which is the national average,'' he said.
Speaking about the reforms, Sarma said that for effective convictions 400 crime scene officers will be appointed and they will be the first to be sent to capture and recover the evidences. Forensic personnel are being trained and besides Guwahati, three forensic laboratories have become operational at Silchar, Dibrugarh and Bongaigaon. Three more are on the anvil while partnership is being developed with laboratories outside the state.
In a bid to strengthen filing of cases, 250 police outposts and patrolling stations will be upgraded to police stations and will increase to over 600 in the state, he said. To streamline operations of the force, all auxiliary units, including home guards and civil defence, will be integrated under the director general of police at the Assam Police headquarters.
The Assam police have already digitised filing of FIRs and chargesheets under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) and from October 1 this year the general diary entries will also be digitised under it to prevent manipulation of investigation, Sarma said. All vacancies in the state police will be filled by April 2024. ''We want to build a zero vacancy force,'' he said.
On the Guwahati police commissionerate, the chief minister said that the number of police districts will be increased from four to five and the number of police stations will be raised from 19 to 34. ''During our surveys we found that 50 per cent of the total cases registered in the state were in Guwahati but it had only 10 per cent of the police force. There is shortage of workforce and we will increase it to ensure timely disposal of cases,'' Sarma, who is also the state home minister, said.
A legal advisor will be provided by the government to the superintendents of police if the prosecution loses any case in lower courts so as to ensure that an effective appeal is filed in the High Court, he said. In the case of crime against children if an accused is acquitted, an appeal will be made in the higher courts after due study and scrutiny of the case and the verdict, the chief minister said.
It has also been decided that seized gold jewelleries, vehicles and other valuables kept in police stations will be sold off within three months to prevent dilution of their value, he said. The state police will also set up canteens and schools in every district on the lines of army canteens and schools. The wives of police personnel will be involved in setting up model schools and they will be the members of the managing committees, he said.
The next SP conference will be held at Jorhat in December while five meetings of Officers in Charge of police stations will be held in the next six months, Sarma added.