Imkong Walling
It was only in August that an Investigation Officer (IO) of the Nagaland Police won a national award. The accolade— Medal for Excellence in Investigation came from none other than the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
In a state police force, skewed in favour of military-styled, combat-ready personnel, the award was not only surprising, but also refreshing. Refreshing because it brought into focus a vital element of policing, but one that has not received the attention it deserves.
Admittedly, the honour was special in the sense that it was for cracking a case with little or no technological aid, in an age, when technology has become indispensible to crime investigation. As per the awardee, there was no high tech gadgetry involved, just the tried and tested methods— human resource and intelligence networking. The perseverance and resourcefulness displayed was without doubt, praise-worthy.
The celebratory mood was however short-lived, as barely three weeks later, one incident occurred that brought into question the investigative capability of the Nagaland Police, especially when it pertains to forensics or lack thereof.
The case in question was the discovery of the dead body of an Assam Rifles woman personnel in Dimapur on September 3. With the cause of death still to be ascertained, the absence of at-the-ready in-house forensic expertise was clearly felt. And with a legislator from Mizoram questioning the credibility of the preliminary police inquest, in a letter addressed to the President of India, reputation is clearly at stake.
It cannot be denied that the state has a relatively strong police force but one which is more counter-insurgency oriented and which in turn has come at the cost of overlooking the investigative wing and even civil policing. In fact, the Nagaland Police has 1,375 more personnel than the sanctioned strength of 26,738, as per Data on Police Organisations released by the Bureau of Police Research & Development in January this year.
While a high police to population ratio looks good, it falls short of expectation, especially when IOs are constraint by lack of investigative aids and when armed police personnel are at odds when confronted with civil unrest.
This observation is consistent with the State apportioning greater focus to counter-insurgency as has been the tradition in India where police forces have the additional responsibility of countering domestic uprisings, giving rise to a system where the police structure is demarcated into two distinct ‘unarmed and armed branches.’
Nagaland would be a prime example of this system where the focus has been in favour of a battle-ready police force. This implies infusing military-like training to go along with the routine job of policing. While the implied focus on counter-insurgency is apparent, it has had an adverse impact on civil policing with the investigative wing clearly ignored.
It calls for a shift in policy towards modernisation by providing the requisite expertise and resources as required of a crime-fighting and modern police force, albeit, without ignoring the existing Armed units.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
