Maharashtra Cops To Sketch Crime Suspect Themselves, No More ‘Professional’ Help Needed

Pune, 26th May 2021: The first batch of the crime suspect sketch making course started by the Maharashtra State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has completed the training. The batch consisted of eighteen police personnel and aimed to make police self-sufficient in sketching suspects. Thus, the state police would no longer have to rely on private individuals to draw the accused.

Head of State CID Atul Chandra Kulkarni and Vice-Chancellor of Pune University Dr Nitin Karmalkar handed over the certificates to the police personnel who completed the training. In most cases, the drawings have played an important role in apprehending the accused in numerous crimes.

The course was started by the then Maharashtra Police DGP Subodh Jaiswal, and CID Chief Atuchandra Kulkarni to nurture talent in the police force and make it self-sufficient. Until now, the police were dependent on external professionals to sketch.

The response to this training course has been very encouraging, as eighteen officers and employees from across the state enrolled for the first batch. CID had signed an agreement with Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) for this course.

The fifty-five-day long course was conducted by Girish Charwad who said, “The drawings by these trainees were examined by expert persons. The suspects were sketched from a vaguely visible figure in the CCTV footage making it difficult to sketch them properly. Even then, the sketches have been excellent. We plan to launch the next batch soon.”