Telangana CID digs up cold cases, hunts for criminals

The sleuths of Telangana CID are on the hunt for criminals who are calmly leading their lives under the presumption that they are at a safe distance from the police dragnet

Hyderabad: Eventually, the long arm of the law is bound to catch-up with criminals! In a unique initiative at cracking cold cases that have been pending for at least 20 to 30 years, the sleuths of Telangana Crime Investigation Department (CID) are on the hunt for criminals who are calmly leading their lives under the presumption that they are at a safe distance from the police dragnet.

Led by Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, Additional Director General of Police, Crime Investigation Department Telangana, the Special Investigation Teams are fanning across the country on a mission to arrest those evading arrest for decades.

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Despite limited information available, which dates back to decades, special investigating teams so far have arrested 11 persons who were absconding in different cases including property offences and financial frauds.

“We are on a mission to arrest those who involved in the cases but are absconding. A list of such absconding individuals has been prepared and using available information our officials are tracing and arresting them,” says Mahesh Bhagwat.

Locating the suspects, who are mostly settled in other Indian States, after a gap of about 20 to 30 years, is a challenging task and the incredible work is being executed by dedicated teams of handpicked men. “After reaching other areas, we seek assistance of the local police in locating the suspects. On an average, it takes anywhere between 10 and 15 days to locate the persons because they might have changed their house,” the top official said.

It is no easy task for the officers. “In one case we went to Maharashtra to locate the person. After enquiry we came to know he is not staying there and with some basic information gathered from there we could locate him in Madhya Pradesh,” says Mahesh Bhagwat.

B Ram Reddy, Superintendent of Police, CID, said unlike in new cases where mobile phones or other identity document are key to trace suspects, in old cases the clues are limited to landline phone numbers and residential address. “Again over the years the localities have been renamed and landline phones have become defunct. So we pick up both senior policemen and energetic tech savvy young policemen. The combination works as the senior adopt old practices to trace out the person while young focus on technical tools,” said the official.