CID project to enable electronic fingerprinting

PUNE: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Maharashtra has embarked on an ambitious project to enable the storage of fingerprints electronically. Currently, the CID officials attached to various SP offices record the fingerprints on paper.

Inspector General (IG) of the CID Rajendra Sonawane said, "A special team manned by a Superintendent of Police (SP) is working on this project," he added.

The project, involves the use of digital camera to record fingerprints of criminals and suspects all over the state and make them available to the police commissioners and superintendent of police (SP) offices through Internet.

CID has already procured 30 digital cameras, each costing Rs 25,000 while 10 more are on the way. These cameras will record both types of fingerprints — those taken on paper and latent — and directly upload them on the main server. According to Sonawane, this will help the department avoid scanning and enormous paper work. “Also, CID would also respond quickly to a request by commissioners and SPs,” he added.

The ambitious project comprises 41 computerized centers of finger print division of the CID attached to all commissioner and SP offices in the state. All the centers are connected through Internet and a server situated at Pashan in Pune.

Fingerprints are currently saved in the server. Sonawane further informed that during the past four months, CID has saved more than 2.32 lakh fingerprints all over the State. This would later be linked to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) to enable quicker investigation.