New Delhi: A new app launched by Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday (June 19) will equip police and investigative agencies with portable fingerprint scanners linked to a national database of 1.3 crore suspects and convicts, that will allow them to stop people anywhere and collect their thumb impressions to check their criminal records.The Hindu has reported that the app, called Abhigyan, has been developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and links the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), a centralised platform that stores fingerprint impression scans of accused, convicts and those imprisoned.A PIB press release of the launch describes the app as a mobile application that enables field police personnel to search the National Fingerprint Database from any location using a certified fingerprint scanner to identify a suspect through fingerprint matching that “makes field policing more efficient and responsive”.The demonstration of the app showed that scans 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 Hindu quoted from the demonstration of the app.Shah said that the app enables “strengthening ground-level policing”.“Today, the NCRB launched its ‘ABHIGYAN’ mobile application. This portable version of NAFIS, with a database of 1.3 crore fingerprints, empowers on-field police personnel to directly access the vast criminal database right from their smartphones,” he said. “Secured with two-step authentication, this app enables real-time fingerprint identification in mere seconds, further strengthening ground policing. Equipped with features like Fast ID, portable setup, and access to crores of records, the ‘ABHIGYAN’ app is an extremely powerful tool.”While an NCRB official said to the newspaper that the Criminal Procedure Identification Act, 2022 provides the legal basis for such checks, Section 3 of the same Act limits its application and does not mention random testing of individuals without any evidence linking them to a punishable offence.Section 3 limits mandatory recording of measurements, including fingerprints, to people who have been convicted or arrested and those ordered to give security for good behaviour or maintaining peace under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.Shah said that India currently has approximately 1.29 crore fingerprints record, records of around 9.91 lakh narcotics offenders, data relating to 3.65 lakh human trafficking cases, and extensive prison databases.The home minister said that these records constitute a valuable national asset and the next step is to ensure that the entire criminal justice ecosystem learns to harness this power and convert data into operational capability.