Police and investigating agencies across the country will soon be equipped with portable fingerprint scanners linked to a national database of 1.3 crore criminal suspects and convicts. The Abhigyan app, developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), was launched by Home Minister Amit Shah on June 19, 2026.
The app links to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), which stores fingerprint scans of accused, convicts, and those in prisons on a centralized platform. A demonstration of the app showed that prints can be matched with the NAFIS database in 35 seconds.
During routine vehicle checks on the streets, biometric scans of any suspicious individual can be conducted to identify persons wanted in connection with crimes. Field officers can get the criminal history of the suspect in a few seconds. This will provide protection to the police officials, as they will be alerted of the presence of a hardened criminal.
The NAFIS database includes the records of around 9.91 lakh narcotics offenders, 3.65 lakh human trafficking cases, and extensive prison databases. Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized the importance of continuously enriching the database by uploading fingerprints collected from every crime scene.
The app enables field police personnel to access a vast repository of criminal records directly on their smartphones. Secured with two-step authentication, it allows real-time fingerprint identification within seconds, strengthening ground-level policing.
The Home Minister also stressed the need for practical training modules that incorporate the art of drafting concise chargesheets, along with the precise processes of collecting, preserving, and uploading scientific evidence.
