THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state police chief has issued guidelines for conducting inquest proceedings at night. Inquest proceedings can now be conducted at night in case of unnatural deaths. As per the guidelines issued by police chief Anil Kant, station house officers can take necessary steps for this. The order was issued as per the decision taken at a meeting chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department.

Station house officers will take action to effectively conduct an inquest at night. In case of unnatural death, the inquest should be completed within four hours and the body should be shifted for postmortem. But in special cases, if the inquest requires a lot of time, it should be recorded accurately. There should be no delay or interruption in conducting the inquest and sending the body for postmortem.

The district police chiefs will take action to provide the necessary lighting for the inquest, arrangements for transporting the body to the hospital and other expenses. It has been suggested that the district police chiefs should monitor the proper implementation of the order.