Approved in 2016, CBI's CTV project to aid digital forensic analysis yet to see light of the day

Approved in 2016, the CBI's prestigious project Centralised Technology Vertical (CTV) to aid its investigators in sophisticated cases involving digital forensic analysis has not seen the light of the day yet, prompting a Parliamentary panel to ask the agency and the government to "introspect and identify bottlenecks" to get it running.

The CTV is a state-of-the-art technology centre aimed at building in-house capacity for supporting specialised crime investigations dealing with digital forensic analysis, forensic accounting and fraud analytics.

It is envisaged to to be equipped with with the forensic expertise along with the right set of tools required for analysing the data to identify "patterns, trails, frauds, discrepancies etc." and provide support to the investigations of complex cases.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs said the CTV with "right set of advanced tools and trained manpower" can become a "shared resource" for all complex investigations across the agency.

Not just the CTV project, the panel also said that the International Centre of Excellence in Forensic Science and International Centre of Excellence in Investigation which were announced long back are still under examination.

"The Committee recommends that both CBI and the government should introspect, identify the bottlenecks and devise remedial measures and take necessary measures to ensure timely implementation of the projects," the panel headed by Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said.

Last September, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh has said that the CTV, which is being set up at a cost of Rs 99 crore, will be operational in 2020. "It will help in getting real time information for the benefit of interrogators," he was then quoted in an official statement as saying.

The panel noted that the number of specialised crimes, including economic offences and financial crimes, investigated by the CBI are increasing over the last years. The CBI also investigates cases of large value bank frauds.

"These cases are often amongst the most complex involving a multitude of entities through which a large number of financial transactions are brought into effect. These transactions themselves are layered across multiple entities which may criss-cross geographical boundaries. Many a time, the Letters Rogatory (LR) are issued to obtain evidence in cases involving financial fraud. All these factors mount a significant challenge to the Investigating Officers in establishing the money trail of the financial fraud," it said.