Murder in Hyderabad! Cops can’t be bothered?

HYDERABAD: In matters of law, every argument is required to be thorough down to the tiniest of details. And since all the material evidence which form the basis of these arguments in the courts first reach the police station, the responsibility of investigating officials (IO) in a case becomes paramount. However, of late, lapses at the investigation level in the Telangana police are being exposed more than ever. Over and above, the courts have pointed out the lapses in investigations which have led to the acquittal of convicted criminals for lack of evidence.

For instance, in a 2007 murder case registered with the Uppal police saw the conviction of the deceased’s wife and her paramour for his murder. The wife was sentenced to life imprisonment after found guilty to have poisoned the husband. However, when the case was taken before the high court the division bench pointed out that the prosecution had failed to prove how the wife had procured the poison used to kill the man. It asked for a better examination of the plastic bottle containing the insecticide used to kill the man by the IOs as well as the prosecution. A month ago, the wife was acquitted of all charges. 

Negligence on behalf of the IOs not only prevents from justice reaching the victims and their families, but it also allows the acquittal of criminals, threatening law and order in the society. In the sensational murder of AP-based gangster Maddelacheruvu Suri, alias Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy, the city court in December 2018 acquitted four persons who were charged under the Arms Act and for conspiracy. 

The court pointed out that in order for a person to be convicted under the Arms Act, there was a prior government sanction to be taken, which in the said case was ignored by the IOs for unknown reasons. 
The concerned IOs were also fired for not submitting the bullet lodged in Suri’s body to the forensic laboratory for examination. While the police said they had forwarded the bullet, the team at Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) denied the same. 

Two persons were convicted for Suri’s murder in December 2018. While three others were found to have contacted the accused on the day of the murder. There were call records and messages found as proof but were not investigated by the IOs for analysis of the content of the calls. After all, a person cannot be convicted for just contacting a murderer unless details of their conversation are specific to the crime. This even if the contact was made on the day of the crime. 

Major lapses
In a murder case registered by the SR Nagar police station, whose judgement was delivered in 2017, the weapon used to kill the deceased was initially assumed to be a sword. However, the investigating officials (IOs) later the weapon used was, in fact, a stone. In its 2017 judgement, the court found that the said stone was not submitted to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). “It is considered to be a major lapse committed by the IOs in the investigation since the stone (used in the murder) was bound to have incriminating materials like blood or tissues of the murderer,” noted the court. 

Fewer convictions
Even the portion of the total number of criminal cases under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which reached conviction stages saw a meagre two percent increase between 2017 & 2018.