Kathmandu, January 23

The Metropolitan Police Office has started maintaining Biometric Accused Data Record of persons arrested for involvement in criminal offences.

The ADR includes Automated Fingerprint Identification System, a digitised system for storing electronic image of fingerprints, photographs and type of criminal offences of the accused. According to statistics maintained by the MPO, it has already maintained Biometric ADR of 4,739 accused in the Kathmandu Valley.

“Biometric ADR helps police to establish criminal history of a person in course of investigation through interconnection of data among all police units. A person held by a police unit in connection with a criminal offence may be on the wanted list of other police units. Earlier, many offenders had walked free from police custody due to the lack of Biometric ADR system to show their criminal activities in other parts of the country,” said a police official.

Similarly, Crime Investigation Department of Nepal Police has already maintained computerised fingerprint images of more than 9,500 people. The AFIS is a biometric identification methodology that uses digital imaging technology to obtain, store and analyse fingerprint data. Though AFIS was originally used by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in criminal cases, it has now gained popularity in crime investigation in many countries.

According to the CID, if tens of thousands of manual fingerprints stored in national archive (for example, Election Commission and District Administration Offices) were to be digitised and maintained in the national database, it would be very fast and scientific in identifying subjects in criminal incidents and natural disasters.

Recently, legal eagles had suggested that Nepal Police make necessary arrangements for collecting and digitising fingerprints of people on the basis of citizenship certificates they acquire from District Administration Offices and create central database for identification of anyone who is involved in crimes and is convicted, while collecting DNA samples.

AFIS helps crime investigators ensure accuracy of identified subjects. The process of comparing the fingerprints takes the computer only minutes to ascertain the identification of subjects. The database of AFIS is expected to help crime investigators ascertain the identity of crime suspects in a simple, easy, accurate, timely and scientific manner and enhance criminal justice system.

Meanwhile, as many as 11,265 persons have registered with ‘Hamro Police’ app launched by the MPO on July 6, 2015. It enables users within Kathmandu Valley to swiftly report crime incidents and road accidents to the law enforcement agency via smart phones. Residents as well as visitors of Kathmandu can report any kind of crime with pictorial and documentary evidence through the app.