Chennai: To ensure transparency in the police department, FIRs are to be updated on the official police website (http://eservices.tnpolice.gov.in) within 24 hours. Even stations located at far-flung places will update in 48-72 hours, as per a latest order.

“A time frame of 48-72 hours will be needed to update the data related to First Information Records (FIR) in a few stations,” said Seema Agarwal, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), State Crime Records Bureau.

Speaking on the recent Supreme Court’s order that allowed the public to access FIRs of cases registered, except those related to terrorism, violence against women and child abuse, she said, “The state currently has 1,910 FIR registration units. Each unit, namely the local stations belonging to all-women police, Economic Offences Wing, Central Crime Branch and traffic police, are equipped with appropriate technology in this regard. The State has already been updating data through Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) since April 15 this year.

Therefore, we have the required hardware, but it is the connectivity that is a problem in some police stations. Around 70 such units are present where technology usage is not feasible. It is these that require time for updation,” Seema added.

The ADGP also mentioned that the state has not allocated any dedicated personnel to carry out the task, as it has adequate manpower on hand. It may be noted that an individual who wishes to seek information, has to register his or her mobile number first. An OTP would be subsequently sent to the same number, after which the FIR can be viewed.

Sources from the department say that around 2,000 FIRs are registered in Tamil Nadu on a daily basis, which get uploaded on the CCTNS. If the police decide to hold back from uploading an FIR, the decision would be taken at the level of Superintendent of Police or police officer of an equivalent rank, recording the reasons. The court had earlier said that the list of sensitive cases was illustrative and not exhaustive.