New police wing to track criminals in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Every move they make, every step they take, the Crime Intelligence Wing will be watching them. Habitual offenders and criminals will now be on the radar of the CIW of the city police. The wing will keep periodic track of their movements, whether the criminals are in prison or out on parole.
The wing was mooted four years ago but couldn't take off due to various reasons.Additional police commissioner (crime) P Harishekharan told TOI that the CIW will be culled out from one of the many wings in the central crime branch (CCB) of the city police. The responsibility is likely to fall on the homicide and burglary wing of CCB. The CIW will function as an information hub or intelligence gathering source, as it collects information about offenders and passes it on to local police and special wings of CCB.
"CIW is crucial because little is being done within the police set-up to keep watch over criminals, both one-time and habitual ones. A lot of efforts are taken in detecting a crime, through finger prints and other technical efforts like mobile tracking. But in the area of crime prevention, there was little effort being taken," said a police officer.
Currently, there is a central crime records bureau which only collects statistics of crime happening in the city. "What the CIW will do is to keep track of criminals, whether they are on bail, on parole if convicted, and their visitors in prison," said Harishekharan.
"We have dossiers on several offenders in the city that are not used in curbing crimes. We have a list of rowdies in the city, but we don't keep a tab on them and their activities. The main job of CIW will be to keep a periodic watch on offenders and anti-social elements," he added.