Chandigarh, Dec 19 (IANS): To enforce strict investigation compliance and to improve the conviction rate in criminal cases, especially heinous crimes and crimes against women, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday ordered specific targets to be set for investigation of criminal cases.

With this, all police officers, will now be required to personally investigate and present 'challans' in a set number of cases in a year, with strict level of supervision by senior officers.

Regular follow-ups, as well as close coordination with prosecution and law officers, has also been made mandatory as per the Chief Minister's directives, which are aimed at ensuring strict compliance with no laxity.

As per the directives issued by Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta on the orders of the Chief Minister, who is also in charge of the Home portfolio, the ADCPs in the three police commissionerates and SPs posted in the districts will personally investigate at least six heinous crime cases in a year and submit 'challans' under their own name, while ACP and DSP sub-divisions have been tasked with personally investigating at least eight heinous crime cases in a year and submit 'challans' under their own name.

The SPs and the DSPs will personally investigate at least 18 crime cases in a year, including those of heinous crimes, and submit challans under their own name, with all similarly mandated to investigate and submit challans in at least six heinous cases in a year.

The targets also cover SHOs of over 400 police stations, who will investigate at least eight heinous crime cases and file challans in a year.

The Chief Minister said he had been constrained to set these targets after observing that investigation and prosecution of cases has taken a backseat due to commitment to law and order duties, work pressures and lack of supervision.