A grab from an online simulated game used by the CID

Crack the puzzle to catch the killer.

With some high-profile murder cases lying unresolved, sleuths of the homicide wing of the criminal investigation department (CID) have been asked to hone their skills by cracking online games of murder mysteries.

The series of online puzzles — titled Stickman Murder Mystery — are designed in a way to expose the sleuths to all aspects of a murder probe.

From accepting the assignment to collecting clues and examining suspects to linking them with the events — the games test the all-round skills of a sleuth.

“We have devised it to help our officers. The exercise will surely sharpen our detectives,” said Rajeev Kumar, deputy inspector-general (operations), CID.

Premier B-schools use this model of pedagogy and expose budding managers to real-life business situations to hone their managerial skills.

If interest among the sleuths is any indication, the simulated games have scored over an earlier method — detective stories. The library room at the Lalbazar headquarters was stocked with books of Sherlock Holmes, Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi. “But very few officers reaped the benefits of the printed word… Online mysteries are a more interesting concept,” said a senior police officer.

The rules of the simulated games are simple: web links of online puzzles are sent to officers’ respective mail IDs, who sit in the cyber crime cell room and have a go at the puzzles. The superiors monitor the performance of the officers.

“They are not being able to solve all the puzzles, but practice and more attempts will surely increase the success rate,” said Kumar, hopeful that honing of skills in the virtual world will translate into cracking real-life cases.

From the seven-year-old murder mystery of four members of a family in Oxytown to the recent killing of Tapasi Mallik, the CID has a number of cases to crack.

“The method is interesting and also stimulates mental faculties…We are expecting to benefit from it,” said a young sleuth, happy after cracking a virtual case.