CBI updates crime manual after 15 years

The CBI has come up with a revised crime manual after a gap of 15 years aimed at enhancing speed and quality of investigation and in consonance with best global practices and developments in law, investigation techniques and crimes.

The Crime Manual 2020 was released by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh on Monday in the presence of CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and the document has Standard Operating Procedures for the officials keeping in mind the changes effected by Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Sources said the revised manual reflects the changes in laws, Supreme Court judgements, legal procedures and interpretation and will be useful for investigation officers taking up cases.

The manual has a separate chapter on conducting investigations abroad, which is a new addition to the manual, which was last updated in 2005.

It also provides detailed instructions on dealing with the Interpol as the CBI is the nodal agency of the former in the country.

The manual advocates the adoption of "team approach" while taking up "large and complex" cases. This approach is expected to prevent any lacunae in investigations.

It provides for detailed information on preventive vigilance functioning of CBI so that field units can use it.

A separate chapter is on the "comprehensively revised" Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for cyber crime investigations and digital evidence collection.

The manual also has updated procedures of collection and analysis of digital evidence and for handling complex cyber crimes, keeping in mind the advances made in the field of Information Technology and the new methods adopted by criminals using the internet.

Extensive consultation with senior retired officials and other stakeholders were conducted for updating the manual, CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said. CBI Additional Director Praveen Sinha also made special contributions in the preparation of the manual.

The CBI had last year said it was in the process of updating the manual following the changes in laws like the Prevention of Corruption Act and Supreme Court judgments.