Crucial documents, including investigation files of sensitive cases and service register of police personnel, were reportedly damaged or washed away after an overflowing Adyar river gushed into the headquarters of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) here.
The office in the SIDCO Industrial Estate, Guindy, houses the EOW, Idol Wing CID and Commercial Crimes Investigation Wing of the Tamil Nadu police.
According to police sources, the entire office premises located in the first floor was submerged damaging all the new computers sanctioned under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) scheme. Service Registers of more than 1,000 police personnel in various ranks, Case Diary (CD) files of cases under investigation were damaged.
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“Some crucial evidence such as original documents of sensational financial frauds, idol theft and commercial crime cases registered and investigated across the State were either damaged or lost. While many documents were washed away, some were retrieved though the important notes or entries made with pen are erased. Unfortunately there is no back up to these documents…only copies of FIR and charge-sheet is available in courts,” a senior police officer said on Wednesday.
Police are trying to find out if data stored in computers could be retrieved with the assistance of IT professionals. “It is almost impossible to reconstruct the Service Register records as there is no back up anywhere. Some original documents in the possession of court and taken for the purpose of investigation and communication of international agencies in the idol theft cases are also lost or in bad shape,” the official said.
Sources in the EOW said that at least five feet of water remained in the office for three days. “There is a lot of sludge and we have begun the cleaning process now,” another official said while parrying questions on whether the damage caused to documents and computers would affect investigation in cases.
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DGP Ashok Kumar who visited the EOW headquarters on Wednesday said it was possible to retrieve or recover most of the data. “The files that were kept in cupboards are damp. Investigation Officers usually have a copy of the Case Diary with them… we will be able to reconstruct the whole thing in due course of time. This may not have a serious impact on ongoing cases,” he said.