Maharashtra Govt Launches 'RUDRA' To Study Criminal Psychology Behind Heinous Crimes In Jails, First Of Its Kind In India, Inspired By FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit

Mumbai: In a first-of-its kind research project in India, the Maharashtra government will undertake a special criminology research project ‘RUDRA’ to study the criminal psychology behind heinous crimes. The 10-year-long research is expected to be useful for criminal investigations and rehabilitation of the inmates.

In a novel approach towards studying the psychology of criminals involved in gruesome crimes, Maharashtra Home Department has approved the ‘Research Unit for Detection and Resolution of Anomalies in Criminals’ (RUDRA). The project is designed on the lines of the ‘Elite Serial Crime Unit’ of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US.

RUDRA will research criminology, the scientific study of crimes and criminals, behind heinous crimes perpetrated by the convicted inmates. The state home department has approved the implementation of this project across all the jails in Maharashtra for 10 years. An agreement regarding the terms and conditions regarding the implementation of the project in the prisons of the state was signed on May 7.

The project was presented to the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis by Atharva Pankaj Deshpande, whose team has earlier conducted psychology-based interviews and the study of major crime victims and interrogation techniques with serial killers and rapists in Central Jails of Amravati and Nagpur. Their research paper was accepted for publication in the ‘Journal of Forensic Medicine Science and Law’.

In accordance with the project, Deshpande and his teammates will be issued identity cards by the home department to enter the prisons and interview the prisoners of their choice. The Home Department has also instructed all the prisons to allow Deshpande and his teammates to enter the prisons based on these identity cards and cooperate in the research work.

According to the Home Department, this research will be useful for criminal investigations and the rehabilitation efforts of inmates convicted of heinous crimes.