With an exponential rise in the number of cases over the years, the Economic Offences Cell (EOC) of Goa Police is facing a severe and constant struggle of having to match its limited manpower.
PANAJI
As against the ideal personnel strength of at least 30 to 32 officers, EOC was previously sanctioned almost half the requirement, none of whom were technically qualified for the specialised work. The sanctioned strength can be broadly divided into a Superintendent of Police, Dy SP, two inspectors, two sub-inspectors, one assistant sub-inspector, three head constables, one lady head constable, two constables and three lady police constables. On paper, apart from the SP and Dy SP, EOC has only one PI, two PSIs, one head constable, one lady head constable and three lady constables. However, at present, the active team comprises only five personnel, including SP (EOC) Priyanka Kashyap, Dy SP Ezilda D Souza, PI Shivram Vaigankar and two other sub-inspectors. Sought for comments on this state-of-affairs, SP Kashyap said, “It is tough to function with less manpower since each investigation under this unit demands a lot of paperwork, intricate probe which deals with accountancy and economics. Due to a shortage in technical staff, this becomes difficult, especially with the ever-increasing workload.” As of now, with the EOC investigating 33 cases of economic and financial offences, including the ongoing case involving Kamakshi Forex Pvt Ltd, the shortage of manpower and technical assistance is weighing down this specialised unit. A request for additional staff that was forwarded in 2013 has been under process ever since, mainly owing to lack of funds, it was learnt. EOC of Goa Police, which is a specialised unit, has also been functioning without an accountant, and such experts need to be sourced on a case-to-case basis. In the past, every request from the EOC for an accountant during an investigation has fallen on deaf ears. Personnel who have investigated cases of EOC in the past confirmed this problem. “A chartered accountant has never been provided during the investigation when we need such an expert the most. A chargesheet is expected to be filed within 60 days and we couldn t keep waiting,” revealed the officer. It was also informed that the additional charge of SP (EOC) was created back in 1999-2000 in order to deal with specialised and technical cases pertaining to financial irregularities and fraud. Over the last four years, 52 cases have been registered with the EOC. However, only one of these has resulted in conviction. Of the remainder, 18 are under trial. However, the EOC, which is housed in the Police Headquarters, has yet to be notified as a police station and functions under the Crime Branch of Goa Police. As a result, EOC cannot register its cases and does not operate as a round-the-clock establishment. It also does not have a lock-up of its own and those arrested have to be placed in the lock-ups of various police stations, making it tougher for EOC to source them for questioning each time. A proposal seeking the notification of the unit is yet to be taken up by the administration, with thefile presently being moved up the ladder.
As against the ideal strength of at least 30-32 officers, EOC was previously sanctioned almost half the requirement, none of whom were technically qualified for the specialised work The sanctioned strength can be broadly divided into SP, Dy SP, two inspectors, two sub-inspectors, one assistant sub-inspector, three head constables, one lady head constable, two constables and three lady police constables. On paper, apart from the SP and Dy SP, EOC has only one PI, two
PSIs, one head constable, one lady head constable and three lady constables. But, at present, the active team comprises only five personnel It is also functioning without an accountant A request for additional staff that was forwarded in 2013 has been under process ever since owing to lack of funds Currently, EOC is probing 33 cases of economic and financial offences, including the ongoing Kamakshi case
