It was in 1975 that the first Gujarat Police manual was introduced to assist police personnel in furtherance of their duty. (Representational)
Forty-five years after the creation of the first police manual in the state, the Gujarat Police presented the draft of ‘Gujarat Police Manual 2020’ to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday, introducing changes related in context to present day policing challenges. With this, Gujarat has become the second state in the country after Andhra Pradesh to create a new police manual in current times.
Gujarat Director General of Police Shivanand Jha and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sangeeta Singh presented the draft of the Gujarat Police manual to Rupani in the presence of K Kailashnathan, chief principal secretary to the CM, in Gandhinagar on Thursday.
It was in 1975 that the first Gujarat Police manual was introduced to assist police personnel in furtherance of their duty.
“Due to changes in the acts related to policing, criminal laws, policing procedure and technology from time to time, the existing police manual had become old and inconsistent. After a review and amendment in the old laws, the new police manual draft is accurate, all inclusive and systematic as well as holistic, in order to assist the Gujarat Police. The new police manual will be available in e-book format on the Gujarat Police website. It will be available in Gujarati language and English and also have scope for periodic changes in the policing laws,” read a statement from the office of the Gujarat Information department.
According to officials, the new police manual has been divided into three parts which contain details of the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), the Evidence Act, the Prevention Of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology Act.
It also contains details about new technologies in policing such as the Cyber Forensic Cell, instruments for Cyber Crime investigation and social media monitoring tools, along with the inclusion of procedure to curb and control new financial crimes, drug trafficking, human trafficking and transnational terrorism.