Guidelines set for road mishap probes

After cracking down on negligent drivers, police are now gearing up to set on track its own investigations in accident cases.

Police Commissioner DN Jadhav has issued a circular with guidelines on how to investigate such cases.

Officers failing to comply with the guidelines will be liable for action. In an affidavit filed before the Bombay High Court on Thursday in the suo motu PIL regarding the Alistair Pereira accident case, police have admitted investigations in the case “could have been better”.

The two investigating officers, Somnath Phoolsunder and Minakshi Patil, have been transferred to a non-executive post in the police control room as they failed to follow basics like drawing up a site map of the accident spot.

The affidavit states that Jadhav personally examined the probe papers in the Pereira case and felt that investigations in accident cases must show more sensitivity and adhere to certain procedures.

The police plan to train its officers and any deliberate breach of the guidelines will be considered dereliction of duty and liable for action.

The guidelines issued on October 9 state that the foremost duty of the investigating officer is to preserve the accident site, record evidence like skid marks, wheel marks, position of dead bodies, conduct a video-recording of the site and prepare spot panchnama and a site map.

A vehicle inspector must be summoned to the spot to record the mechanical status of the vehicle and give an opinion on the cause of the accident.