Members of the canine squad show off their skills on the field as another welcomes DGP Neyaz Ahmed to the Jharkhand State Police Duty Meet-2010 in Ranchi on Sunday. Pictures by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Nov. 7: There was no murder, yet the men in uniform were on alert, busy clicking the “homicide” spot for over two hours.

The occasion was a state-level police photography competition organised on the first day of the Jharkhand State Police Duty Meet at Jharkhand Armed Police grounds.

Around 38 police inspectors and sub-inspectors took part in the contest that kicked off at 1pm. Each participant was asked to take five photographs of a scene of homicide recreated by the officials of the crime investigation department with the help of effigies, red colour, toy pistol, knife, footprints on news papers and prints of tyres on soil.

“This is scene of homicide. There are five vital clues that will help detect the crime. Out of five, two are scientific clues while the other three are common clues. With the help of five black and white photographs, a participant will have to establish the five clues and the place of occurrence. Each person has been given only five minutes for the task,” said an examiner of CID, Shailendra Kumar Chaturvedi.

He added that the best three would be given opportunity to take part at the All India Police Duty Meet to be held in Jaipur from February 2 to February 15 and the winners would be rewarded with out-of-turn promotion.

Earlier, DGP Neyaz Ahmed had declared the meet open. Addressing the inaugural programme, he said the meet was held to test the skills of police officers in using scientific method for detection of crime and select the best three for the national competition.

A special show involving the dogs of the crime investigation department was also organised. The canines displayed their talent in detection and prevention of crime besides showing their sense of discipline.

Other events were anti-sabotage test for which two participants had turned up with necessary equipment — a handheld metal detector used to detect explosive kept in pockets and bags, and a deep search metal detector used to detect explosives hidden underground.

Besides these equipment, they also had a mirror-fitted metal detector to detect explosives hidden beneath a four-wheeler.

“Anti-sabotage test is exclusively meant for officers of the special branch. It tests their skill in detecting hidden explosives before arrival of a VIP or VVIP. Participants have to appear for an interview as well as practical. About 30 minutes are given to each participant during the competition,” SP (CID) Amarnath Khanna said.

Another event was portrait making test. Twenty participants, including constables and assistant sub-inspectors, tried their luck.

“This event tests the skills of police officers as far as giving a detailed description of a criminal is concerned. The time duration of this test is 30 minutes,” said main examiner of the test, Dhirendra Kumar Prasad.

The meet will conclude on November 9. As many as 95 police officers, including 16 inspectors, 23 sub-inspectors, nine assistant sub-inspector and 50 constables, are taking part.