With rise in road accidents, Accident Investigation Unit reels under staff crunch

With increasing number of road accidents in Delhi, the cops who carry out the investigation of fatal accidents are becoming all the more over worked. Accident Investigation Unit (AIU), established in all the eleven districts of Delhi on the order of the Supreme Court in 2010 handles the investigation and compensation provided to the families of accident victims. Police officers of the AIU of the North-west district said that although they are able to provide timely compensation to the families of the road accident victims, sources said that the Unit is suffering from acute shortage of staff.

In 2016, From January 1 to June 30, 735 fatal accidents have taken place in Delhi. Out of this, 118 fatal accidents, the highest, have been registered in the North-west district, as per the data provided by the Delhi Traffic Police. The North-west district recorded the highest number of fatal accidents. The AIU team is assigned the task to investigate cases of fatal accidents usually consisting of 10 to 15 cops. 

The AIU works under a larger department called the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) cell. The MACT cell of the North-west functions at the third floor of a four-storeyed building at Rani Bagh area. Currently, the AIU has nine Investigating Officers (IO), out of which four are either on medical leave, or on the verge of retirement or some have gone out of the city on leave, said sources.

From across all the police stations of a district, officers in the rank of Sub-Inspector or Assistant Sub-Inspector are recruited to join the Unit. 

Explaining how the cases of fatal accidents are solved, a police inspector said: “Firstly, FIR is registered at a particular police station. Within two to three days, the case is transferred to the Unit. 

The Unit collects details of the victim such as name, age, number of family members dependent on him, his pay scale etc. Based on the investigation headed by an Investigating Officer, an Accident Information Report (AIR) is prepared by the team within two days. After receiving inputs from the Forensic Science Laboratory, a Detailed Accident Report (DAR) is prepared within 30 days. The DAR is a report that consists of information related to the offending vehicle, the victim’s vehicle, medical treatment availed by the victim and evidence such as collision marks on the vehicles which are lifted from the scene of accident to analyse the loss and decide how much compensation has to be awarded to the victim’s family.”

The official added: “Although the report is submitted within a month and the compensation is provided by the concerned local court within a span of 120 days, there are several problems faced by the Investigating Officer (IO).”

Elucidating more on the problems faced, the official said: “Verifying documents such as a driving license is a time consuming process. Coupled with this is the physical verification of the medical reports of the victim who usually undergo treatment at more than one or in some cases two hospitals. 

In case of a hit-and-run, if the victim is in Coma, the team of the Unit has to constantly update the 

MACT court by moving updated applications which makes the process very cumbersome.”