With cyber criminals defying geographical bounds, the police in the district are often compelled to send investigation teams to faraway States which pose several logistic issues.
The challenges vary from lack of funds to meet travel expenses to the near-total non-cooperation of the police in these localities.
Cheapest modes
“The paucity of funds forces investigation teams to choose the cheapest possible modes of transportation, accommodation and food but even then they end up spending considerable amount out of their own pockets when their stay gets indefinitely prolonged. Police personnel are also human beings and getting stripped of basic dignity in an alien land leave them frustrated besides making them reluctant to be part of such investigations later,” said a senior police officer in the district.
At any point of time, at least one or two police teams from the district remain outside the State on such assignments.
Despite air travel now being so cheap, it is sanctioned only in exceptional cases, forcing them to take train most of the times, stripping them of quality time which otherwise could be utilised for investigation.
“For instance, if the suspects are traced to Assam, which is quite common in cases in Ernakulam rural, six days are lost on travelling up and down alone,” the officer said. A Sub-Inspector who has been on similar assignments said that transporting a dangerous accused by train involved considerable risk.
“It is not always practically possible to get vouchers for all expenses incurred during the course of an investigation. That the bills presented take ages to be cleared is another thing,” said the officer who claimed that he was yet to be reimbursed the expenses incurred during Parliament duty two years ago.
Non-cooperation
The non-cooperation of the police in other States further adds to woes of the travelling cops.
“For instance, the police station-level cooperation is not often forthcoming in cases traced back to Jamtara in Jharkhand, which is known as the cyber crime capital of India, as they are often ill-trained and lacks domain expertise. The non-cooperation of mobile network providers is another issue,” the senior officer said.
“We have frequently demanded the allocation of dedicated vehicles and an annual fund for investigation purposes at the disposal of every district police chief during staff council meetings,” said N.V. Nishad, district secretary, Kerala Police Association.
