It’s all about teamwork for Telangana cops in solving cases

Hyderabad: It all boils down to teamwork, even for police. Investigation into crime, especially sensational offences, is undergoing a sea of change in Telangana, with the police now roping in different wings to work on cases, instead of one select team handling the entire process.

Teams from different police units — right from special crime detection parties such as the Task Force or Special Operations Teams, Special Branch, Traffic Police Information Technology units and Armed Reserve and Clues Team (Forensic) — are assisting the law and order police in investigation and detection of cases.

For instance, in the Neeraj Panwar murder case of Shahinayathgunj, the police were able to nab four suspects within a few hours of the crime. Two other suspects, who were at large, were also caught within 48 hours. “It was possible because the local police, the Task Force, IT Cell and Special Branch teams collaborated,” an officer, who supervised the investigation, said.

While the law and order police teams identify the suspects by interacting with the victim’s relatives and friends, the local Task Force personnel, known for their tactical skills, nab the suspects based on the information gathered by Special Branch sleuths. “Nowadays, the IT Cell helps with technical details, including the live location of suspects, recent phone calls and other details. With the Automated Number Plate Detection Recognition Cameras in the city, the Traffic Police provide details of the movement of the vehicle taken by the offenders,” he said, adding that the Armed Reserve teams are usually deployed to prevent attacks on police personnel during raids and escort the offenders after they are nabbed.

In the murder case of Nagaraju at Saroornagar, the Rachakonda Police, too, had formed several teams to probe the case and nab the suspects. The Clues teams also play an important role in collecting forensic evidence to help connect the offender to the crime and, in some instances, also provide crucial clues that could help nab the criminal.

“Previously, the multiple wings got involved only in sensational cases such as bomb blasts, communal riots or terror incidents. Now, for murders and property heists too, various wings at the local level are coordinating with each other,” a senior City Police official said.

Police officials foresee more coordinated efforts in the future to crack crimes, including small offences so as to decrease the time taken to nab the criminals. “Such coordination helps in speedy detection of the crime and arrest of the suspects. Compared to the previous years, the detection time is becoming less these days. In several instances, offenders were nabbed within 12 hours of the offence,” the official said.