Putting a face on crime

Bangladesh Police is planning to recruit forensic sketch artists to help solve complicated cases and expedite investigation process.

Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), tasked to probe special cases, has already sent a proposal to the Police Headquarters (PHQ), seeking 40 such artists.

Apart from that, PBI has also proposed to recruit 5,284 additional manpower for removing backlogs and settling cases in the shortest possible time.

“The proposal is now pending at the home ministry for approval,” Banaj Kumar Majumder, PBI chief, told The Daily Star recently. A forensic artist will try to sketch the face of a criminal and crime scene after taking notes from eyewitness and victims, said Majumder.

“We have to deal with many cases in rural areas where it’s hard to avail digital support and CCTV cameras are not available,” he said. “A sketch artist will come in handy in such circumstances. The drawings can also be submitted to the court as corroborating evidence, along with case documents,” he added.

Recently, PBI took the assistance of sketch artists to explain the brutal killing of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi, which is a first in the country’s history. It was a benchmark in the police investigation, said the official.

Police presently outsource sketch artists. Even in some sensitive cases, like in writer and blogger Avijit Roy murder, police invited sketch artists from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to draw the faces of suspects, according an official involved in that investigation.

“Presently, we do not have any sketch artist but if the investigation officers (IO) want, they can hire one,” Rumana Akhter, special superintendent of Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Forensic DNA Laboratory, told this correspondent.

Currently, PBI tries to digitally draw the image of a criminal. But they failed to get desired result this way, said a PBI official.

“We have to update the software continuously to use the system and it also needs a trained operator. That’s why we are now proposing to appoint sketch artists,” said PBI chief Majumder.

PBI DEMANDS MORE WORKFORCE

In the proposal, PBI also sought to increase number of the force for speeding up investigation, settling cases quickly (after arresting the accused) and enhancing the force’s efficiency.

Established in 2012, PBI now has a manpower of 2,029 officials with a deputy inspector general (DIG) as chief. The specialised unit has so far solved 36,648 complicated cases -- 7,273 filed with different police stations and 29,375 with courts.

Most cases were reinvestigated as other agencies were unable to unearth the mystery behind those incidents, according to PBI officials. Due to manpower shortage, around 4,620 cases are pending with the unit at  investigation stage now, they added.

Asked about it, PBI chief Banaj Kumar Majumder said at present they are operating across the country with 47 wings. Because of insufficient workforce, they are not being able to settle cases in due time, he said.

Once the proposal is approved, they would be able to operate better by forming 75 wings, the PBI chief added.

In the proposal, the unit asked to increase the posts of additional DIG to six from the existing two and posts of special superintendent of police to 65 from existing 10.

It also proposed that 28 additional SPs and 599 inspectors be added to the workforce. Besides, PBI sought that its chief’s post be upgraded to that of the additional inspector general of police.

An official in the police headquarters told The Daily Star that they have already sent the PBI proposal to the home ministry after scrutiny. The ministry is now looking into it, said ministry sources.