Acute shortage of staff has affected the functioning of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru police which handles investigations into major crimes in addition to other crime-related work.
While the strength of the Bengaluru’s CCB is far less than that of similar wings in other major metros, even the sanctioned posts have not been filled since the past one year, top sources in the City police told Deccan Herald.
The City’s CCB has just around 125 personnel of various ranks, while the Delhi CCB has a staff strength of 1,800 and Mumbai has 1,500 policemen, the sources said.
“The strength of lower-rung officers needs to be enhanced. There are only 74 constables and head constables against the sanctioned strength of 94. We need more constables to carry out efficient work. Since 2013, officials have been transferred from the CCB and the vacant posts have not been filled. Three of the five posts of Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP) too are vacant. Five posts of inspector are also vacant,” the sources said.
Most of the sensational crimes, including those related to terror, are usually handed over to the CCB for investigation. With staff shortage, officials are under stress to complete investigations on time.
Around 225 cases are being investigated by the CCB. That apart, the staff from the wing have to conduct raids on gambling dens, brothels and other illegal centres, besides keeping tabs on rowdy activities.
“We were also roped in for investigations into several other major cases like the Vibgyor school rape, pro-IS Twitter account handler Mehdi Masroor Biswas and the Church Street bomb blast, to name a few,” a senior officer said.
The CCB has specialised squads such as Women and Narcotics, Homicide and Burglary, Special Enquiry, Fraud and Mischief, among others. Now, two new wings, Social Media Cell and Crime Commanding Centre, are being added to the CCB, increasing its workload, the sources said.
