Bhubaneswar: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged serious lapses in planning, implementation, and monitoring of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) in Odisha, since its inception in 2013.
It stressed privacy breaches and lapses in both investigation and prosecution.
The audit on CCTNS’ performance until March 2023, found that police officers shared their login credentials with colleagues, allowing unauthorised access to the online platform. The privacy breaches and lapses in investigation and prosecution saw credentials of inspectors-in-charge (IICs) and investigating officers (IOs) being used to register FIRs and make arrests even when these officers were on leave.
The report, presented in the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday, emphasised the risks associated with sharing login credentials, stating, “Credentials such as username and password are provided to help verify the identity of the person trying to access a system. This authentication process ensures that only authorised users are granted access.”
There was significant control failure in enforcing chronological sequencing and logical sequencing of actions, resulting in untenable and illogical recording of events, such as registration of FIR prior to registration of General Diary (GD) entries and recording of arrests and seizures prior to recording of FIRs, it said.
The audit also uncovered incorrect generation of arrest details on CCTNS, with 198 instances of serial numbers of accused persons being incorrectly mapped to different FIRs.
The audit also found user management lapses and mentioned 2,080 instances across 217 police stations from 2018 to 2023 where chargesheets were prepared by officers who were not designated as investigating officers (IOs). “The deficiency indicated a significant control failure, as the system permitted the filing of chargesheets by personnel not authorised to do so. This carried the risk of modifications/manipulations to the chargesheets by officers who were not the designated IOs.”
It further noted that faulty mapping of police stations with supervisory authorities forced officials to rely on offline manual records. Multiple IDs for the same accused and complainants further compromised data integrity.
The CAG also noticed 5,566 missing complaints of children below 18 years in the system without registration of FIRs, although it was a prerequisite and mandatory.
In 1,631 cases at 405 police stations, details of women victims and juvenile offenders classified as sensitive, were disclosed on the CCTNS, violating a 2016 police circular that prohibits public viewing of FIRs related to heinous crimes against women.
Irregularities in tendering and contract Award
The audit also exposed serious lapses in the tendering process by the state crime records bureau, which resulted in undue benefits being extended to the selected software services provider.
It noted that NIIT was declared technically qualified despite failing two key pre-qualification criteria on project experience and value. Financial bids were not in the prescribed format; an extra Rs 15.17 crore for printers and paper was quoted separately.
It further stated that NIIT was declared L1 despite irregular scoring and incomplete bid compliance. Complaints from rival bidders questioning PQ criteria were ignored.
After awarding NIIT a contract of Rs 69.99 crore, the State Level Purchase Committee (SLPC) unilaterally asked the firm to cut costs to Rs 42.71 crore by excluding Rs 24.08 crore worth of items and adding a Rs 3.20 crore discount. Other bidders were not invited to re-bid for the reduced scope, violating CVC guidelines and denying equal competition.
The CAG concluded that these actions vitiated the tender process, compromised transparency, and created significant risk of financial impropriety.