Bhubaneswar: The state govt has introduced a crucial policy initiative by establishing an ‘investigation fund‘ to cover expenses during criminal investigations.
According to the official notification, seen by TOI, the policy outlines specific monetary allocations for investigating various criminal cases, encompassing murder, rape, kidnapping, cybercrime, excise and narcotics violations and property-related offences.
According to the finance department’s notification on Friday, murder investigations can receive sanctions up to Rs 25,000 per case, covering body transportation, forensic team visits, exhibit sealing and associated activities both within and outside the state.
For rape cases, police authorities can utilise up to Rs 37,000 for investigation purposes outside the state and Rs 18,000 within state. These amounts support transportation of survivors and accused, accommodation, evidence handling, witness refreshments and emergency requirements.
Kidnapping probes are allocated Rs 30,000 for cases beyond state boundaries and Rs 10,000 for within state investigations, the notification read.
Unnatural death (UD) investigations receive Rs 13,000 for both in-state and out-of-state expenses. Cybercrime investigations are allocated Rs 45,000 for out-of-state and Rs 25,000 for in-state investigations.
For drugs and arms smuggling investigations, authorities can spend Rs 35,000 (outside state) and Rs 15,000 (inside state) per case.
Property-related offence investigations will receive Rs 17,000 for both in-state and out-of-state expenses, while miscellaneous cases have a Rs 5,000 limit per case.
“The initiative aims to improve criminal investigation effectiveness throughout Odisha,” a senior police officer told TOI.
The policy follows Odisha police’s proposal addressing complaints about officers requesting money from complainants for investigation-related expenses.
“Police often faced criticism for demanding money from complainants to cover costs such as fuel for vans and purchasing train or bus tickets for travel during investigations. In some cases, police stations received financial support from local businessmen for minor expenses,” the senior police officer said
Currently, police stations in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack receive Rs 40,000 per month from the govt for service delivery, including refreshments for visitors. Urban, Mahila, traffic, railway and cyber police stations, and specialised units across the state receive Rs 30,000 per month for better service delivery. Rural and marine police stations receive Rs 20,000 monthly for such work.