Raj Police wants to use Aadhaar data to aid probes

The Rajasthan Police is exploring the possibility of using Aadhaar data for verifying the identity of criminals, suspects, complainants and missing persons in the state.

For this, the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) has requested the state Information Technology Department to procure biometric machines to be kept in police stations and would start process to seek the access of Aadhaar data from agencies concerned, a senior police official said.

We have recently sent the requisition to the department of IT for 1,000 biometric machines which would be installed in police stations across the state and other offices of the state police. The machines would be used to fetch the Aadhaar details of suspects or criminals through finger prints, SCRB Superintendent of Police Pankaj Chaudhary told PTI.

He said the department would now seek access to Aadhaar data so that the details of the suspects/criminals having Aadhaar number could be fetched through their finger prints.

Chaudhary also informed that Aadhaar details of all such suspect or criminal would be maintained at the police stations.

Police catch many suspects and criminals but sometimes they manage to mislead them about their identity. The move will help police in authenticating the identity of such persons, he said.

More than that, the SP said, this will help the police in identifying such children who go missing and are found or rescued in the state but they lack proper identification details.

There have been cases where kids were abducted from a railway station or while playing or from any other location in the country and were forced into illegal trades.

When they are rescued by police, ascertaining their identity becomes a challenge. The use of biometric data can help track their roots through authentic details, provided they have Aadhaar number, he said.

And since majority of the people now have Aadhaar number, it will be easier for the police to execute this plan, the officer said, adding, this can also be used for verifying the identity of any complainant.

There are 859 police stations under 10 police range in the state.