New crime trend becoming challenge to Nepal Police

By misusing technology, crimes of a new nature are being committed in the country. It has been confirmed by some incidents that groups operating criminal activities in Nepal while staying abroad are also active. A new type of crime is also being seen to withdraw money by hacking the banking system itself.

With the use of global technology, fraud, kidnapping and other incidents are increasing through social media. Cases of human trafficking in the name of foreign employment have been seen.

Especially fraud, smuggling, extortion, financial crimes created from transactions, human trafficking and drug trafficking, serious organized and transnational crimes, gender violence and cyber crimes of any nature through computers have become a mountain of challenges for security personnel.

In this way, even though the series of crimes is increasing, questions have always been raised about the ability to face that challenge. The security officials themselves admit that the country's security personnel lack sufficient skills, resources, equipment and technology.

The government has also been promising to provide resources and means, but the problem always seems to be the same. According to the police officials, it is becoming challenging to conduct an objective investigation that reaches the inner level of the crime. Their conclusion is that this is the main reason why the cases investigated by the police have failed.

The increasing crime and trends are also challenging the country's investigative system and capacity. Additional Inspector General of Police Ravindra Bahadur Dhanuk, head of Kathmandu Valley Police Office, says that due to rapid urbanization, economic activities, rapid expansion of technological networks and globalization, crime trends are becoming complex and hi-tech. He says, "For that, expansion of existing resources, development of necessary training techniques, resolution of legal complexities and the investment and commitment of the responsible body for building a clear policy base are necessary."

It is necessary to make Kathmandu's crime investigation competitive and competent at the international level. There is a need to develop an objective and evidence-based research system while protecting basic human rights by replacing rhetorical research, but it is challenging in the current situation.

On the one hand, there is a need to specialize the police units and manpower involved in crime investigation structurally, on the other hand, he admits that there is a lack of training, resources and technological sophistication for the development of the police's investigative capacity.

Criminal investigation is the cornerstone of the criminal justice system. There is no alternative to making the research system objective and evidence-based to build credibility among the citizens while making it strong and strong. Dhanuk pointed out that it is necessary for everyone to take the initiative to prepare an environment for investigation officers to be freed from any pressure and influence and conduct a fair and victim-friendly investigation.

Attorney General Khamm Bahadur Khati said that along with the increasing graph of crimes, there is a need to train investigative officers and the state should set up a separate mechanism to investigate. Stating that new crimes are decreasing, new laws are coming and the form of crime is also changing, there is a need to pay special attention to investigate it, he insisted that only then will success be achieved in crime control and the victims will get justice.

"Cybercrime, economic and heinous crimes are increasing today compared to yesterday, the government also needs to come up with a new policy to deal with it, legal science laboratories are also needed in all seven provinces", Khati said.

Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey also says that it is necessary to strengthen the crime investigation skills of the police. 

According to Inspector General of Police Dheeraj Pratap Singh, the complexity has also arisen because financial and cyber crimes through the use of technology are increasing and the cases related to this are being heard only by the Kathmandu District Court. He pointed out the need to arrange hearing of such cases at least at the provincial level.

He said that only if there is coordination and cooperation between the three pillars of the justice system, investigation, prosecution and justice, the victims will get justice and the real perpetrators will be punished.

This time, after three years, the crime investigation review conference, which was halted due to Covid-19 in Nepal, has been organized in all seven provinces of the country. After the provincial conference, Kathmandu Valley level crime investigation review conference was organized today.

In the conference, there was a serious discussion about the current crimes, their new forms and trends, the challenges seen in crime control and investigation, and the future strategy needed for crime control. It is believed that the findings of the seminar will contribute significantly to the government in controlling the increasing crime