With the help of Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS), the Delhi police are comparing the details of people involved in violence during the protests against the citizenship law in the national capital with a data bank of more than two lakh ‘antisocial elements’, said the police on Monday.
A senior police officer said that they are gathering CCTV footage and mobile videos of the violence happened on December 15 in Jamia Millia Islamia, December 17 in Seelampur and December 20 in Old Delhi. The videos collected from various protests sites, will be processed through the software to identify the suspects, who were involved in stone-pelting and arson.
“It is not the first time that we are using this technology to identify people involved in violence. After the video feeds are processed, the positive comparisons will be checked upon and the suspects will be identified,” said the officer. He added that they already have data bank of around two lakh people who have been to jail for some reason and are out on bail. The entire process is being supervised by the Cyber Crime Unit of Delhi Police.
Delhi police spokesperson M.S. Randhawa, confirmed that they are using the facial recognition system to identify the people involved in violence.
The CCTV recording of Jamia Millia Islamia campus incident is yet to be procured by the police, who said they need it for investigation. However, the university administration said that a call on the handing over of the footage will be taken later since the university has requested for a judicial probe into the matter and the National Human Rights Commission is also looking into it.
Procured in 2018
Another police officer said that they will use the technology during Independence Day and Republic Day for security reasons. The technology was procured by Delhi Police in 2018 to reunite missing children with their families.
