THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State police chief Loknath Behera has said that the state has initiated steps to bifurcate the functions of law and order and crime investigation in the police department. Mr Behera also claimed that conviction rate in the state was much higher than that national average. The state police chief’s comments came in the wake of the adverse comments made by the High Court on the quality of investigations by the police.
Kerala police registers and investigates more than 7.5 lakh cases a year, 90 per cent of which are charge sheeted,” he said in a statement. “Kerala also has a high conviction rate of 79 per cent against the national average of 45 per cent." Mr Behera said a proposal was submitted to the government to give the charge of police stations to circle inspectors with one sub-inspector in charge of crime investigation and law and order each. All police officials are being trained in scientific investigation methods, he said, adding that the state needed to set up more scientific laboratories.
