Conviction in henious crimes sees 5% jump from last year

BHUBANESWAR: The conviction rate of Red Flag cases, involving heinous offences, in the state has improved from last year. While the conviction rate of such cases was 37.25% in 2020, it has already touched 41.6% by the end of July this year.
The Odisha Police had introduced the Red Flag category of cases in 2014 for better investigation and conviction. Only some sensational crimes, involving rape, brutal murder, rape and murder, dacoity and murder, are categorised as Red Flag cases. The state crime branch and senior officials, including range IGs/DIGs and SPs, directly monitor the investigation of such cases.
According to the statistics shared by the state police headquarters, a total of 276 Red Flag cases were identified in 2020 out of which 51 cases had seen completion of court trials. Of the 51 Red Flag cases disposed of, 19 had ended in conviction and 32 had resulted in acquittal. The conviction rate of the Red Flag cases stood at 37.25% last year.
From January until the end of July this year, 81 Red Flag cases were identified. Of the 81 cases, 24 were disposed of in courts. While 14 cases ended in acquittal, 10 cases led to conviction. The conviction rate has reached 41.6% so far this year.
It must be noted that the overall conviction rate of all crimes in Odisha is one of the lowest in the country. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the state’s conviction rate stood at 9.5% in 2015, 10.4% in 2016, 9.3% in 2017, 5.7% in 2018 and 21.5% in 2019.
While experts attribute the cause of low conviction to substandard investigations, poor collection of scientific evidence, lack of supervision by senior officers, lack of good government lawyers and shortage of judges, police said efforts are being made to improve the quality of investigation.
“The investigating officers have been asked to ensure the arrest of the accused persons, proper accumulation of evidence and timely submission of charge sheets in courts. After the transfer of the investigators, we have been appointing holding investigating officers to monitor court developments, arrange for the necessary documents and ensure the timely deposition of prosecution witnesses in court,” a senior crime branch official said.
A few years ago, a dedicated crime analysis wing was set up in the crime branch headquarters to guide investigating officers of police stations in probing the Red Flag cases.
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