Scene of Crime Officers report for duty in Mysuru

• These new designated Officers deployed to strengthen evidence gathering in criminal cases
• Karnataka Police to have 196 SoC Officers; Mysuru gets 4

Mysore/Mysuru: Four Scene of Crime Officers (SoC officers) have reported to duty in Mysuru after obtaining rigorous training on evidence gathering at crime scenes. The four men are part of a 196-member squad which has been officially inducted into the Karnataka State Police Service.

These trained investigators have undergone training at the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad and Karnataka Police Academy (KPA) in Mysuru. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative in Karnataka launched by the previous Government where a dedicated section of personnel have taken over the responsibilities of securing a crime scene.

The SoC officers who have joined the Mysuru District force are Abhishek from Arasikere near Hassan and K. Mohit Kumar from Koppal. The two officers who will work with the City Commissionerate are K.N. Bhargav and B.S. Subhash. Their native details are unavailable now as the officers were collecting evidence at the crime scene this morning at KSRTC Layout near the Outer Ring Road Junction on the Mysuru-T. Narasipur Road where a man strangled his wife.

All the SoC officers who have reported in Mysuru have B.Sc as their educational qualification as evidence gathering needs scientific basis. The recruitment has been made by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) after eight months of training.

Till now, many crime cases failed in Court of law due to lack of scientific evidence and analysis and this resulted in a poor conviction rate.

Henceforth, the SoC officers will be responsible for gathering crucial evidence from crime scenes. They will be responsible for identifying, recording and collecting evidence at the crime scene, including fingerprints, DNA samples and other evidence.

They will most importantly preserve sensitive evidence from the crime spot so that they lead to conviction. The officers will also work with forensic experts and the Investigating Officers (IO) to analyse evidence and help solve crimes and ensure conviction. With their induction, chances of errors in collecting and handling evidence will become less and the Police investigators will be able to focus on their probe.

Apart from collecting evidence, the Officers will provide training to other Police on crime scene investigation techniques and develop and implement new crime scene investigation procedures. In addition, they will advise the IO on the admissibility of evidence in the Court of law.

The introduction of SoC Officers is a significant development in the Karnataka Police. It will help improve the quality of investigations and ensure that evidence is properly collected and preserved. With this it is more likely that criminals are brought to justice.