Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Oct 12: "Resources crunch in police department, in both the fields of infrastructure and manpower, adversely affect quality of investigation," observed Dakshina Kannada district superintendent of police (SP), Dr S D Sharanappa.

He was speaking after inaugurating the medico-legal workshop for police officers and employees organized by city police commissionerate and Dakshina Kannada department of police in association with Kasturba Medical College (KMC) Hospital and Manipal University in the city on Sunday October 11.

Observing that the rate of convictions in criminal cases is abysmally low in the country, he pointed out that analysts have assigning several reasons for this phenomenon, including shortage of police personnel and scarcity of basic infrastructure facilities.

"The style of investigation is undergoing drastic changes. At present, there is no provision to inflict physical torture on the accused persons. Therefore the policemen need to sharpen up their investigation skills. For this purpose, they can draw assistance from different departments. Police officers and other staff need to keep acquiring knowledge on new inventions and modern methods of investigation and keep their knowledge updated," he advised.

Pro chancellor of Manipal University, V Surendra Shetty, who participated as chief guest, noted that the role of forensic science is stellar in the investigation of criminal cases. He noted that the forensic department of KMC has been making significant contributions to this field. KMC dean, Dr M Venkatraya Prabhu, speaking on the occasion, said that workshops like these help people to serve the aim of continuous education, which is needed in every field.

Head of KMC forensic department and state medico-legal consultant, Dr B Suresh Kumar Shetty, welcomed. Professor and district medico-legal consultant, Dr Jagadish Rao P P proposed vote of thanks.