Face recognition app helps detect fugitives

The app has been provided to 40,000 personnel who are on field and in police stations

In the early hours of a Sunday, two constables were checking vehicles  and stopped a man on a two-wheeler with a boy in pillion. The man informed the police that he was working in SIPCOT and showed his identity card. He told them the boy sought a drop.

When the boy did not give straight answers, the policemen took a snap and checked the photo with face recognition software (FRS) app on their mobile phone. They identified him by name as a juvenile delinquent and a boy missing case was registered with Kodungaiyur  police. He was  kept in a home run by NGO for  involvement in theft cases in Triplicane police station limits and he had escaped from there. The boy was handed over to Kodungaiyur  police for further action. 

A history sheeter, Ravi alias Peter Nilgiris district was involved in property offences since 1984 and even convicted in 14 cases. However, he had been reported absconding since 2002. His case was transferred to Nagercoil Central Crime police station in Kanniyakumari district in 2005 as the Nilgiris district police got a tip-off that he had married a woman and moved to Kanniyakumari. His whereabouts were not known for long. Thereafter, he had changed his name into Mohammed Rafiq which was not known to police.

The police considered he might be inactive and therefore closing of the history sheet was being contemplated since more than 20 years passed.  

A senior police officer said when it was searched on FRS with his photo, it was found that he had committed six house burglaries in Kottar police station limits and given his name as Syed Mohamed Pugari. It was found that a non-bailable warrant was pending against him in Kottar. Only through FRS, it came to light that Ravi alias Peter and Syed Mohamed Pugari  were the same person.

The FRS application was developed by CDAC-Kolkata for Tamil Nadu Police and launched on October 4 last year. There are around six lakh images in CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Networking System) database. As on date, 76 suspects, 473 accused and 359 applicants of passport and other police verification have been found to have criminal cases against them by police personnel using the FRS app. The app has been provided to 40,000 personnel who are on field and police stations.