New courses focusing on investigation in cyber, terror related

More and better in-service training courses focusing on investigation, especially in new areas such as cyber and terror-related crimes, will be offered by the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), a top official said Wednesday. The courses would be introduced to further strengthen training in investigation related fields for District Superintendents of Police (SPs) and Range Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs), senior IPS officer Abhay, who took over as the 31st Director of the premier training institute, said.

His priority will be to give extra emphasis and to further improve the training in the investigation being imparted to District SPs and Range DIGs and also to offer new kind of training in monitoring trials, he said. "I feel there is a need to give a little extra emphasis and to further improve the training in the investigation being imparted to District SPs and Range DIG level officers.

"I feel new areas of investigation be it a cyber crime, economic offence, organised national security-related, terrorism-related crime, to strengthen investigation in these areas, NPA will offer further courses," Abhay told reporters. He said the academy would also offer training on monitoring prosecution and trial to ensure more and better convictions.

Prior to 1973, both investigation and prosecution were with police and after the Criminal Procedure Code CrPC amendment, the prosecution is a separate department," he explained. Now there were matters pertaining to coordination, like production of witnesses, production exhibits, serving of summons, and related issues where police need to coordinate with other agencies to get good results, he said.

In the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the trial monitoring was being done much better and they were getting better results because of it, he said. There was scope for further improvement in state police with regard to monitoring of trial and NPA will conduct training, workshops, seminars on how to improve monitoring of trial and improve coordination, Abhay said.

On courses for the IPS probationers, Abhay said the probationers had been asked to do syndicate brainstorming and suggest improvements in the basic training. More than 350 IPS and other officers were undergoing basic and mid-career training programmes at the academy now, he said.

An Odisha cadre IPS officer of 1986 batch, Abhay was the Director-General of Narcotics Control Bureau from January 2018 to July 2019 prior to the new posting. In his career, he had headed the Crime Branch and the Special Branch in Odisha before stints in the CBI.

He had also served in the Bureau ofPolice Research and Development as Director (Training) and as Additional DG (Training) in Central Reserve Police Force.

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