High time for cops to gain skills to compete and outsmart criminals: Court

New Delhi, Dec 19: It is high time that the crime team of Delhi police raises its level to compete and outsmart the criminal minds and acquires requisite skills for the purpose of lifting finger prints, a Delhi Court has said.

Additional Sessions Judge Manoj Jain pulled up the police for not being able to lay hands upon the chance finger prints of requisite quality at a crime scene, where two robbers were apprehended, saying, "Investigation conducted by the crime team is not up to the mark."

"Their job is a specialised one and not for namesake. It is really painful that even in a case of present nature when the accused were apprehended instantly and when they were not wearing any gloves etc, the crime team was not able to lay hands upon the chance prints of requisite quality," the judge said.

The court said that the style of working of crime team of Delhi Police needs to be monitored by superiors and there is urgent need of technological updation to give a tough time to criminals.

The court, which was hearing an appeal of two brothers Shiv Kumar and Sanjay Kumar against their conviction for the offence of house-breaking with common intention under section 454/34 of IPC and sentence of seven years imprisonment awarded by the trial court, modified it to five years.

The court found that Shiv was involved in 22 such cases and has already been held guilty in 10 cases while Sanjay was involved in 39 criminal cases and was convicted in 14 cases.

It noted that despite being held guilty in various previous cases of similar nature, the convicts have not shown any remorse, but modified the sentence while considering their poor family circumstances.

According to the prosecution, both Sanjay and Shiv entered the house of an advocate Yash Laxmi Sharma on the third floor of a residential building in Pushp Vihar area here, when she had gone to temple on February 24, this year. Sharma returned within half-an-hour and found the lock missing and main door latched from inside.

Suspecting some one to be in the house, she locked the house from outside leaving no scope for alleged trespassers to escape, it said. She later called her neighbour and the police but meanwhile, one intruder Sanjay jumped from the balcony of her house and landed on ground injuring himself badly while other intruder Shiv was apprehended when the police opened the door, it said.

Lauding the presence of mind and courage of the woman, the court directed the each of the convicts to pay her Rs 20,000 as compensation.

PTI