Artificial intelligence (AI) tools will be integrated into the under-development second version of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), which connects over 17,000 police stations across India to a centralised platform, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed a parliamentary panel.
MHA’s submission was part of a report by the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology (2024-25), chaired by Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey, on the impact of artificial intelligence.
According to MHA, National Crime Records Bureau has envisaged several AI-based applications for CCTNS 2.0, including entity resolution and criminal profiling. These tools will enable the system to link multiple cases to a common suspect and generate comprehensive criminal profiles using FIR data from police stations across states.
The system is also expected to integrate an automatic prediction tool capable of identifying offences and relevant legal sections from FIR content using a trained AI model. AI will further assist in predicting potential crime locations and improving beat planning through Risk Terrain Modelling (RTM), which combines crime history with social and local factors.
Additionally, AI tools will help identify repeat offenders by analysing offender lists and assigning risk scores. Technologies such as automatic number plate recognition and AI-powered facial recognition linked to CCTV networks will aid in tracking wanted criminals and managing traffic.
The ministry said AI is also enhancing intelligence gathering and counter-terrorism capabilities by analysing large datasets, detecting anomalies, and identifying patterns and linkages, thereby improving decision-making and operational efficiency. In tackling cybercrime, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) is using AI to detect online offences. In collaboration with IIT Bombay, it is developing systems to assign suspect scores to mule accounts based on behavioural and transactional patterns.
Further, I4C is working with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub to develop real-time suspect scoring models for financial transactions, enabling banks to flag and potentially prevent fraudulent activities.
