Gujarat cops to get fingerprint scanners

GANDHINAGAR - Detecting criminals will now become easier, with all police stations in Ahmedabad getting equipped with fingerprint scanners within this year.

“It will take just a fraction of a minute for the police to find out whether the person under scrutiny has a criminal record or not,” Dr J.M. Vyas, director at the Directorate of Forensic Sciences (DFS), told IANS Tuesday.

Being introduced for the first time in the country, the fingerprint scanners have been installed at four police stations in Ahmedabad and are undergoing trial runs.

“However within this year, we shall provide these to all the 36 police stations in Ahmedabad,” he added.

The scanning equipment comprises a web camera and a Fingerprint Analysis and Criminal Tracking system (FACTS) software. The web camera will click pictures and the imprint of the fingers along with the essential data will find it’s way to the central database at the DFS.

“This is expected to revolutionise crime detection as finger prints picked up from the scene of crime can be passed on to the central data base to get the feedback,” Dr Vyas said.

“Equally fast would be the response, when a suspect is hauled up to a police station. Whether the person possesses a criminal record or not, will be known immediately by logging the fingerprints into the central database. Presently the process takes more than a week,” he added.

The facility, which forms part of the national Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), will allow for the electronic scanning, exchange and comparison of fingerprint information.

It was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi April 27 at a four-day South Asia conference of security and forensic experts held here.

The conference was specifically convened to discuss the use of DNA, Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) and fingerprint forensic sciences in police identification work in Asia and was attended by over a hundred experts including those from Interpol.