GUWAHATI, May 18 � Though the level of violence in Assam has come down in recent months, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is concerned at the failure of the Assam Police to take even the cases relating to heinous crimes to logical conclusions. Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram is likely to review the security scene in Assam personally within a month.
Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the records prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on the crime records in the country exposed the utter failure of the Assam Police to take the cases to logical conclusions, which has become a matter of serious concern for the MHA.
Sources revealed that the Assam Police was able to file chargesheets of only 38 per cent of the cases of heinous crimes against the national average of 86 per cent. On the other hand, of the chargesheeted cases, only 16 per cent of the accused were convicted in Assam compared to the national average of 42 per cent. Some of the states managed to submit chargesheets of around 98 per cent of the cases and the national average was brought down by states like Assam. The figures are only of heinous crimes and if all the crimes are taken into consideration, the position may turn out to be worse.
Sources pointed out that the records prepared by the NCRB clearly indicated that the Assam Police was not able to take the cases to the logical conclusions and exposed the failure of the force to expedite the process of investigations. The low rate of convictions also proved that there was something wrong in the process of investigations, sources added. The Assam Police has not even been able to file the chargesheets of major cases like the blast in Dhemaji on Independence Day in 2004, while, the cases relating to serial blasts on October 30, 2008 were chargesheeted within months because the cases were handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Sources said that the MHA was concerned over the failure of the Assam Police to take the cases to the logical conclusions as there was possibility of the people losing faith on the law and order machinery if such a situation continued, which would pose dangerous consequences. The MHA has already taken up the issue with the Assam Government and Chidambaram is likely to review the security scene in the state shortly to ensure more accountability on the part of the law-and-order machinery.
Sources said that the Union Home Minister is planning a visit to Assam by the end of this month to review the situation. It will be part of his efforts to assess the ground situation in NE as only recently he had visited Arunachal Pradesh following reports of NSCN cadres creating trouble in Tirap and Changlang districts. He is also planning to visit Mizoram to discuss the issue of the problems of the Bru refugees, sources added.
