Pardafas Reporter
Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has said the government is more attentive to the increasing complexity to handle and control crime due to its changing nature.
While inaugurating the ‘Valley Crime Investigation Review Meeting’ jointly organized by the Crime Investigation Bureau, Nepal Police Headquarters, and the Kathmandu Valley Police Office here today, the Home Minister said sometimes obstacles might occur in the implementation of measures to combat crime and such possibility should be kept in mind while going into action.
“The crime cases are increasing, a big change has appeared in the forms and nature of the crime. Though the development of new technology has contributed to the control of crime to some extent, it has been the reason for escalating complexities in responding to the crime and the State is aware of it,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of the State to ensure the protection of people’s physical safety and their property,” the Home Minister said, adding that it was required to enhance resources, competency, and efficiency of security bodies for the same. The government is serious about such need, according to the Minister.
People’s physical and property safety, and peace and order in the society and the nation are the goals of the government, according to the Minister who urged the security bodies to contribute to meeting such goals.
He took time to applaud the role of the Nepal Police for its accomplishment in the minimization and control of crime in spite of limited resources and acknowledged the roles of the medical workforce, sanitation workers, and security people to fight the COVID-19 pandemic as frontliners.
“The government is committed to investing for the resources enhancement and capacity building of security bodies.” As the Home Minister asserted, the coordinating roles of the three tiers of the government are necessary for the measures against crime.
The Home Minister went on to say that the incumbent government is ready to own the agreements reached between the erstwhile government and some parties. The Home administration and the Office of Attorney General are learned to have been lending support and coordination necessary toward that end.
The Home Minister said the government is committed to ensuring the massive participation of political parties in the election by addressing some Constitutional and legal complexities ahead. As he said, the incumbent government will own and continue with efforts capable of having an impact on people initiated by the previous government
The Home Minister said the government is always effortful towards taking the country ahead by completing the peace process and bringing all in the national mainstream.
Attorney General Khamma Bahadur Khati stressed on giving special attention to investigation in case of new types of incidents. He insisted that the investigation officers should be allowed to work independently for collecting fair, independent, undisputable, factual, and physical evidence.
Noting that the Civil Criminal Code has given the responsibility of investigation to the police and of the prosecution to the government attorneys, Attorney General Khati said the victims would get justice if the investigation is fool-proof. In his view, the state system should be strengthened to deal with the challenges of crime control.
He also pointed out the need of formulating new policies for controlling serious crimes such as cybercrime and economic crimes while informing that the process of amending some Nepal Acts has been forwarded to do away with the situation of registering the cybercrime-related cases only in Kathmandu.
Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey expressed the belief that the conclusions arrived through the eight seminars held on a provincial basis would further hone the skills in crime investigation. Stating that the changing nature of the crimes has posed a bigger challenge in tackling them, he said, “The luggage of the air passengers is checked through the scanner at the airport. But there is no provision for scanning the cargo and waste management. We need to be sensitive on this topic.”
Inspector General of Police Dheeraj Pratap Singh said the Nepal Police has been carrying out an excellent job regarding crime control and maintaining law and order despite of limited means and resources at its disposal. He stressed the need for capacity enhancement and the use of technology for crime control. IGP Singh suggested increasing the number of CC cameras in the Kathmandu Valley from 5,000 to 25,000.
Stating that only the Kathmandu District Court handled the cases related to cyber crime, he said provision should be made so that at least such cases would be handled in each province. Kathmandu Metropolitan City mayor Balendra Shah said that the citizens were not able to understand the very definition of crime, pointing out the need of spreading literacy on what constitutes a crime and making aware the public. Mayor Shah expressed concern over the increasing rate of cybercrime compared to physical crime.
Chief of Kathmandu Valley Police Office, Additional Inspector General of Police Rabindra Bahadur Dhanuk underscored the need of expanding the means and resources, training, and technological capacity amidst the growing challenge of crime control. He also called for removing the legal complexities and putting in place a clear policy-level foundation. For this, he said, the responsible bodies should increase investment and express solid commitment.
