Issues and Challenges in Criminal Investigation: A study on the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in Bangladesh

Abstract

As the circumstances around crime change across time and space, so does the crime pattern. The successful investigation of a crime is essential for implementing the law in a criminal case. A practical and fruitful criminal investigation is challenging due to various external and internal factors. The authors attempt to define the difficulties in criminal investigation and propose a solution. Thus, identifying the challenges inherent in criminal investigation is critical for developing an effective model. Numerous criminal cases exist in society; nevertheless, for this research, the authors focus on two primary forms of crime: first, the investigations of murder cases, and second, the investigation of rape cases. Among forty-nine police stations in the Dhaka Metropolitan region, the study area covers nine by following the purposive sampling method. Generally, local police officers designated as inspectors make the primary inquiry of a crime. When the preliminary investigation is inconclusive, the court asks the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to handle the case in the plaintiff’s best interest. Since CID is a specialized wing for criminal investigation, the authors visited this division and interviewed their investigators. Additionally, newspaper research, media monitoring, expert opinion case studies, and in-depth interviews with various victims assisted the authors in gathering evidence and articulating solutions to address the issues regarding a criminal investigation.