Delhi Police Sets up Supervisory Teams to Ensure Effective Investigation of 2020 Riot Cases

New Delhi, September 21: The deputy commissioner of police of north-east Delhi has written to other officers that supervisory teams have been constituted in order to ensure effective investigation of the 2020 riot cases.

These teams will be responsible for reviewing the pending investigation in the riot cases thoroughly. Special emphasis will be laid on analysis of scientific and technical evidence available on record and on guiding investigating officers to gather more such evidence with the help and support of technical teams, the letter written on Monday stated.

The status of exhibits collected and sent to the FSL shall also be reviewed, and the investigating officers given suggestions on additional queries or information required by FSL experts, it said.

The letter further said that to provide infrastructural or technical support, specialised teams have been set up at the DCP's office complex which will help the investigating officers in obtaining call detail records and examining CCTV or video footage for identification of suspects through facial recognition software or programmes developed for the purpose.

The supervisory officers or teams and ACPs or SHOs concerned shall guide investigating officers to avail services of the technical teams for efficient investigation of cases assigned to them.

Besides, reports of district forensic and crime teams that had visited the scene have also been made available to the police stations, it stated.

It said that this exercise is required to be completed preferably by Friday.

All ACPs, SHOs and in-charge or members of special teams are directed to put their best to ensure that this exercise is conducted in a result-oriented manner and completed within the given time frame, the letter said.

At the end of each day by latest 7 pm, each team shall submit daily work reports regarding cases reviewed by them with specific comments or observations of SHOs and ACPs. The information shall be supplied to the riot cell in hard copy as well as in soft copy, it said.

A Delhi court on Friday came down heavily on the city police for its “lackadaisical approach” and said that no steps for the proper prosecution of the 2020 riots cases have been taken by the police commissioner and other top officials.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg made the remarks after the prosecutor failed to appear before the court despite repeated calls and the investigating officer (IO) came to the court late without reading the police file and was unable to answer the court's queries.