FINGERPRINT BUREAU

NISHA YADAV
(1404)
FORENSIC LAW
2/15/2019
 "FACES CAN LIE BUT FINGER PRINTS NEVER"

INTRODUCTION

The Central Finger Print Bureau, better known by the acronym CFPB among the law enforcement
agencies of the country, came into existence in the year 1955. It fulfilled a long cherished requirement
of law enforcement agencies throughout the country as a nodal agency to effectively deal in Inter-
State nature of Criminal enquiries by tracing/locating Inter-State criminals, and, Standardization,
Modernization and Coordination of Fingerprint Bureaux.

ORIGIN OF FINGER PRINT SCIENCE

The idea that fingerprints could be used as a means of personal identification was first put forward by
Sir William Herschel, District Magistrate of Hooghly District, of Bengal province in 1858. Later, Dr.
Henry Faulds gave the idea of tracing a criminal from the latent prints found at the scene of crime
and came to the conclusion that no two fingerprints are alike. Based on the idea of Herschel and
Faulds, Sir Francis Galton, the renowned English Scientist established scientifically the basic principles
of uniqueness and permanency in Finger Prints. It was then that Sir Edward Richard Henry, the
Inspector General of Police, Lower Bengal with the able assistance of two Indian officers namely,
Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque and Rai Bahadur Hemchandra Bose, developed a system of classification
of fingerprints, thereby discarding the anthropometric system of identification. The first ever Finger
Print Bureau in the world was established at Writer's Building at Calcutta (now Kolkata).

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ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL FINGER PRINT BUREAU (CFPB)

The Central Finger Print Bureau better known by acronym, CFPB came into being in 1955 in Calcutta
(now Kolkata) under the administrative control of the Intelligence Bureau. In 1973 the administrative
control was transferred to CBI and it was in July, 1986 that the CFPB was finally placed under the
administrative control of the newly formed National Crime Records Bureau and is located at East
Block-7, R.K.Puram, New Delhi 110066.

FUNCTIONAL ROLES AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES

The main functions of the CFPB have been mainly to maintain a database of fingerprint of criminals,
National & International, and to disseminate the information. This was aimed at:

1. To maintain Finger Print Record Slips, conduct search of specified categories of Indian and
foreign criminals convicted of offences falling under the schedule of crime of CFPB, and also,
to maintain records of international criminals sent by the Interpol Division of CBI and
Narcotics Control Bureau, New Delhi.
2. To undertake examination of questioned finger impressions referred by Central Govt.
departments and Govt. of India undertakings.
3. To impart training in F.P. Science (Theory and Practical) to police and non-police personnel
of State Govts. in India and personnel from foreign countries under 'Technical Co-operation
Scheme' of Colombo Plan, 'Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan' and International
Technical and Economic Co-operation' with other developing countries.
4. To Co-ordinate the work of the State Finger Print Bureaux and give necessary guidance in all
matters relating to F.P. Science.To conduct All Indian Board Examination (since 1956) every
year for accrediting the Finger Print Experts. The eligibility to appear in the examination is a
graduate from a recognized university and who has completed three years practical experience
in finger print work.
5. To conduct All Indian Board Examination (since 1956) every year for accrediting the Finger
Print Experts. The eligibility to appear in the examination is a graduate from a recognized
university and who has completed three years practical experience in finger print work.
6. To conduct competition in Finger Print Science at the All India Police Duty Meet (since 1958)
annually.
 7. To publish ‘Finger Print in India’, an annual publication, which is an in-depth study of the
performance and activities of all the Finger Print Bureaux of the country

AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

The Indian Version of Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is called FACTS, which
was co-developed, by NCRB and CMC Ltd., India, The current version of FACTS is 5.0. The system
uses Image Processing and Pattern Recognition technique to capture, encode, store and match
fingerprints, including comparison of chance prints. It uses pattern class, core and delta information,
minutiae location, direction, neighbouring information, ridge counts and distances, density, type, print
background/foreground information etc. for matching Finger Prints. Apart from the above details,
FACTS also stores non-fingerprint information or demographic details like gender, region and
conviction details.

KEY ROLE

At the Central Finger Print Bureau, all the questioned documents involving disputed Finger Prints are
examined and opinion given regarding their identity or otherwise. The service is free of charge for all
Government agencies and Public Sector Undertakings. In case of private agencies or individuals, the
documents should be routed through Govt. agencies.

WHAT IS FACTS

FACTS is an advanced Automated Fingerprint Identification System. It uses image processing and
pattern recognition technique to capture, encode, store and match finger prints including comparison
of Chance Prints.

OBJECTIVES OF FACTS

To maintain and computerize finger print record slips of specified categories of Indian and foreign
criminals convicted of offences falling under the schedule of crimes as mandated for CFPB

To conduct search of references relating to unidentified interstate suspected persons received from
police stations and other investigating agencies in India and to search chance prints developed at the
scene of crime.
To maintain and computerize the fingerprint records of International criminals and to conduct search
of references sent by Interpol Division of CBI, New Delhi

FACILITIES PROVIDED BY FACTS

1. Database creation
2. Identification oriented query
 Ten print to ten print searches
 Chance print to ten print searches
 Ten print to Chance print search
 Chance print to Chance print search
3. Remote Query Processing
4. Creation of Criminal Attribute Database
'FINGER PRINTS IN INDIA-2016' IS THE ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF CENTRAL
FINGER PRINT BUREAU (CFPB)

under the aegis of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) which presents the annual performance
reports of the Central and State/UT Finger Print Bureaux (SFPBx), including the activities,
achievements, database status, trainings undertaken as well as other useful information such as relevant
laws, equipments, and authoritative books all at a glance enabling the finger print experts, readers and
the stake holders throughout the country to equip themselves.

Chapter-I- ACTIVITIES OF CENTRAL FINGER PRINT BUREAU

In the year 2016, CFPB has been able to deliver the desired standards by assisting in solving 07 cases
received from INTERPOL, Nationalized Banks, Recruitment Agencies, Insurance companies and
various State/UT Finger Print Bureaux. The bureau has been able to achieve a search slip trace
percentage of 15.4 along with the examination of 121 document cases. The bureau has also been
mandated to organize an annual conference of Directors of FPBx of all the States/UTs, 14th edition
of which was organized at Bhopal, MP on 02-03 February, 2016 with a gathering of 94 delegates from
across the nation. The bureau conducts the All India Board Examination during 19-22 November,
2016 for accrediting the appearing candidates as Finger Print Experts on being successful in the exam.
In 2016, 97% of the 69 candidates cleared the exam and Ms. Ruchi Raghuvanshi from FPBx, Bhopal
bagged the first position. During the 60th AIPDM held on 19-24 December, 2016 at Mysuru,
Karnataka, the bureau organized the Finger Print competition in which a total of 114 candidates
displayed their excellence in the theoretical and practical aspects of the FP science.

Chapter-II- ACTIVITIES OF STATE FINGER PRINT BUREAUX

Main responsibility of fingerprint expert is to develop the chance prints left by criminals at the crime
scene and to match with the fingerprints of the existing criminals. During 2016, FP Experts visited
54,349 crime scenes and developed chance prints in 19,450 cases leading to 4,723 identifications.
Further, FP experts also receive arrested persons fingerprint slips for providing the previous criminal
history by comparing with fingerprints. Expert opinion was given on the questioned documents
referred to the Fingerprint Bureau. Since the total number is very large, each state has submitted few
importance cases based on the sensitivity, value of property lost/recovered, detection of series of cases
etc for printing in this publication. A number of cases were still large, some has been filtered by
excluding similar types of cases. This chapter consists of brief description of 72 cases.

Chapter- III- TRANSACTION ACTIVITIES OF CFPB AND SFPBx

State wise Statistics related to transactional activities such as number of FP slips received, accepted
and enrolled of convicted and arrested persons, number of crime scene visited, number of chance
prints developed and compared, number of document cases received and opinion given are covered
in this chapter. With respect to arrested persons, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are
providing previous criminal history based on fingerprint matching. Tamil Nadu tops the list with 484
cases of detection based on chance prints during the year 2016 followed by 297 cases in Andhra
Pradesh. With respect to document cases, Uttar Pradesh is highest by giving opinion in 289 cases
followed by Punjab in 233 cases. Following table shows the all India Statistics of the fingerprint
transactions in States/UTs during 2016.

Chapter- IV- ANALYSIS OF FP TRANSACTION ACTIVITIES

This chapter consists of the analysis of various finger print related transaction activities performed in
States/UTs. Number of convicted Criminals during 2016 published in “Crime in India(CII)” is
compared with the number of Fingerprint slips received at State Fingerprint Bureau which clearly
indicates that FPBx have to initiate remedial measures by asking Police Stations to furnish FP slips of
all convicted criminals. Cases solved based on the chance prints lifted from scene of crime is significant
only in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and in remaining States, the figure
is very minimum. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan are providing the
previous criminal history by matching arrested persons finger prints in significant number of cases.
Large number of questioned documents were examined in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra
Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra.

Chapter- V- CAPACITY BUILDING

CURRENT SITUATION:

NEW DELHI: In February, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police nabbed a man for possession of an
illegal pistol. When the man pleaded he wasn’t involved in any earlier crime, the cops took him to
Kamla Market. There, not much time elapsed before the policemen realised they had finally got the
man behind a 12-year-old case. His fingerprints and the details of the earlier case were in the records
and provided the clinching link.

The Fingerprint Bureau of Delhi Police at Kamla Market, and its 38-man team, plays an instrumental
role in solving crime cases. As Alok Kumar, joint commissioner (Crime), testified, “The intervention
of the bureau remains paramount despite rapid advances in forensic sciences. Fingerprints are crucial
in establishing a person’s identity.”

Every time a heinous crimes in committed in the city, the bureau analysis more than 31 lakh
fingerprints in its data base, hoping to nail the culprit’s culpability through evidence about his or her
presence on the crime scene. The team of 38 helps get 50 calls for help every day, and solve at least
five cases every month. Last year, they examined 2,071 cases, of which 1,716 were new and the rest
earlier cases reopened for examination.

“The system is so foolproof that there hasn’t been a single case of wrong identification,” claimed
Kumar. Suppose a person is caught on the spot after committing a murder and is brought to the police
station. It is probable that he will not reveal his true name. This is where the fingerprint experts step
in. All police stations are provided with a live scanning equipment that captures prints of fingers and
palms. “Within 10 seconds, the print images are put on the central system called AFPIS (Automated
Finger and Palm Identification System),” disclosed Rajan Bhagat, DCP (crime records). “If the suspect
has a criminal history, it immediately shows up along with his correct name and address.”
If a match is established, investigators get access to information such as the suspect’s photograph,
names, aliases, date of birth, previous crimes, including speeding bookings, drug dependencies and
mental health records.

The bureau has an ACP, two inspectors, 15 sub-inspectors and 20 assistant sub-inspectors, for whom
the tools of the trade have changed considerably. They no longer work with bulky devices like a silver
nitrate or iodine fuming chamber, earlier used to develop fingerprints on paper or cloth. Today, the
process has become less tedious and more accurate, especially because the data is digitised.

Cops have introduced newer and more proficient technologies like RUVIS (Reflected Ultraviolet
Imaging System). AFPIS contains fingerprint records of those who have previously been taken into
custody as well as those who have been convicted but not charged with a crime. The details of all
fresh arrests are stored mandatorily. The system with its live images of fingerprints, introduced in
2010, means cops no longer have to take fingerprints of accused on plain paper and rush to district
offices for scanning and identification.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://ncrb.gov.in/BureauDivisions/CFPB/facts.aspx
2. http://ncrb.gov.in/BureauDivisions/CFPB/Achievements.aspx
3. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/fingerprint-bureau-keeps-its-finger-on-
pulse-of-latest-tech/articleshow/63260780.cms
4. https://keralapolice.gov.in/wings/state-crime-records-bureau/finger-print-bureau