BHUBANESWAR: The state government has temporarily appointed inspector general of police (IGP), S Shyni, as the head of the newly created special wing to probe crime against women and children in the state.
Shyni, who is currently the IGP at the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy (BPSPA), will hold both the posts.
“We have made the dedicated investigation wing partially functional with S Shyni as the head.
Soon, a full-time IGP will head the unit, which has been keeping a close watch on the cases related to crime against women and children across the state and also tracking the progress of the investigations,” a senior police officer said.
At present, the new investigation wing is being run from the premises of the state Crime Branch office in Cuttack.
“The special wing will take up only important cases.
Just as the economic offences’ wing takes up investigation into very high volume economic frauds, the crime against women unit will intervene in highly important cases.
Besides, it will guide the district police in investigating the offences against women and children to ensure that the cases end up in conviction,” the police officer said.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who had on December 30 last year announced creation of the special wing of Odisha Police to probe crime against women and children, approved 62 posts in January for its smooth functioning.
The announcement had come amid outrage over the alleged rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Nayagarh district in July last year and shoddy investigation by the local police into the sensitive case.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) had also portrayed a sorry picture of atrocities against women and children in the state.
The registration of cases involving crime against women had increased to 23,183 in 2019 from 20,274 in 2018.
The NCRB report had placed Odisha in the second place after Uttar Pradesh in the number of cases relating to molestation of women in the state.
Instances of crime against children has also been increasing for the past few years.
While altogether 3,185 cases of crime against children were registered in the state in 2017, the number had shot up to 5,217 in 2018 and 7,012 in 2019, data collated by the NCRB had revealed.