Himalayan News Service

Bhopal, March 9:

Police personnel in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are currently being trained in performing one of their most basic tasks - writing up first information reports (FIRs) or formal complaints.

The top brass launched the training campaign after discovering that the ineptness of police personnel in writing up the complaints had been leading to the accused in serious offences being acquitted in courts.

A senior official said that almost 20 per cent of acquittals were due to poorly written complaints. These acquittals had severely damaged the image of the police force, he said.

Under the training, personnel are being taught how to write complaints correctly and properly. An official said the exercise was taken up at the behest of the Director General of Police, S K Das.

"The FIR is the basis of any case and it plays an important role once the trial starts in court. The chances of conviction is reduced if the FIR is not accurate," said the official. Generally, constables write complaints on the directions of the station officer. Senior and experienced police officers have been given the task of teaching their subordinates how to write the complaints.