The Sindh cabinet has approved a grant of Rs800 million for the investigation department of the Sindh police for the improvement of the department so that proper investigation of cases, particularly of heinous crimes, can be carried out.
Officials said that during a recent cabinet meeting, Sindh police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon had submitted a proposal to the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah requesting a grant of Rs1 billion for the investigation department.
Memon reasoned that the department has to be upgraded, so the cabinet discussed the proposal of introducing a special investigation allowance (SIA) for investigating officers (IOs) of the police so that proper investigation of cases, particularly those dealing with heinous crimes, could be conducted.
IGP Memon said that there were 113 units of investigation at Karachi’s police stations, while in the rest of the province there were about 406 units of investigation. Moreover, he said, in Karachi around 73,093 cases were investigated in 2022, and some 9,800 of them were of heinous nature. He also said that reviewing the statistics, at least one IO is required for every 25 cases of heinous crimes, while one IO is required for every 40 cases of non-heinous crimes. Therefore, he pointed out, to overcome the issues, there is a need for at least 1,800 additional personnel, which is just 20 per cent of the total strength of IOs required. Memon said that in Karachi the total strength of the investigation department is two DIGs, including the CIA DIG, 12 SPs, 50 DSPs, 372 inspectors, 887 sub-inspectors and 1,001 ASIs, and the total annual expenses of these 2,324 officials is approximately Rs1.3 billion.
Likewise, in interior Sindh there are 153 inspectors, 367 sub-inspectors and 712 ASIs, and their total annual expenses is approximately Rs0.6 billion. The IGP said that the total projected financial impact on the government upon the introduction of the investigation allowance is approximately Rs1.98 billion. The CM said the SIA has been proposed for the ranks from ASI to AIG. He said that the precedent of such an allowance is available in other interrogating agencies such as NAB and ACE Sindh. It was pointed out that on an average, an IO investigates around 57 criminal cases in a year. The cabinet approved granting the SIA. Its accumulative financial impact would be around Rs800 million.
It was decided that a certification course would be introduced, and this allowance would be given to certified IOs only. The SSP Investigations would exclude the names of those IOs who fail to complete their respective investigations within a month. Moreover, the allowance would not be provided to officers who are under suspension or who are without any assignment due to a disciplinary action or poor performance.
IGP Memon had earlier presided over a meeting at his office for upgrading and restructuring the investigation department. Comprehensive recommendations were submitted to the police chief. He was informed about the manpower, including IOs, and other resources required by the department. He ordered that all senior officers of the investigation department would work under the supervision of the Additional IGP Investigations. Moreover, all senior officers of the investigation department, including ADIG Admin, would work under the supervision of the DIG Crime & Investigation.
A total of 2,317 IOs have been notified and 1,134 are required for investigations. It was also briefed to the IGP that the IOs going to the upper course would be given special training in murder, robbery and vehicle lifting, etc. A special subject related to investigation would be introduced in special refresher courses of three to four weeks.