ID :
36829
Sun, 12/21/2008 - 21:22
Auther :

India keen to enlist itself in key Interpol database

Snehesh Alex Philip

New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) India is seeking access to
Interpol's three key operational database services, including
those which provide DNA and fingerprint information.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which
represents the 187-member-strong international organisation of
police forces in India, has been using only Interpol's
'Nominal' database while cracking numerous cases.

The 'Nominal' database has pictures and details of the
wanted persons against whom Interpol has issued notices.

CBI sources said the first service which the agency is
eager to enlist itself in, is the Interpol databases on Stolen
and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD).
With access to this database, immigration officials would
be able to carry out direct screening of passports and
identity documents on real-time basis against Interpol's
global database of more than 16 million stolen and lost travel
documents.

Significantly, when Interpol Secretary General Ronald K
Noble met Indian Union Home Minister P Chidambaram Saturday,
it was one of the main subject of discussion.

According to the international agency, this
border-control system would permit the country's law
enforcement authorities to instantly identify anyone
attempting to fraudulently enter the country by air, land or
sea.

If Interpol agrees to the demand, India will join 41
other countries worldwide with this capability.

"This (access to the database) would be great and we are
working out the modalities. We would be able to track down our
lost documents and passports which at times if not traced can
be detrimental to the national interest," a senior official of
the National Central Bureau (Interpol branch of CBI) said.

He said DNA and fingerprints databases are the next in
the list. "We do not have access to DNA and fingerprint
database of the Interpol but would like to. We would soon hold
a conference of the country's best forensic scientists to see
how we can prepare such a database," the official said.

Pointing out hurdles in efforts to be a part of the
services, he said while some countries have provisions for
using minimal force while getting the DNA of a suspect, the
Indian Constitution have no such rules.

Currently, 46 nations are participating in DNA database
while 146 countries are part of the fingerprint database.

"At present, once a person against whom we have issued a
notice is detained on the basis of Nominal database, we have
to urgently send fingerprints to the particular country to
confirm whether the person is the same as the wanted one.

"Once, we join the service, the local police out there
can instantly confirm the identity of the person based on the
fingerprints or DNA data which we would have already fed into
the database," a source said.

As of now, Interpol operates seven databases including
ICAID Child Abuse Images which carries pictures of known and
wanted paedophiles, Stolen Motor Vehicles and Stolen Works of
Art database. PTI SAP
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