The Maharashtra government will soon replace manual registers of criminals with digital biometric record for the efficient working of the police force. It will create a database of criminals by digitizing their biometric information and photographs.

The state government has decided to go for the Automated Multimodal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) to modernise the police force.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to implement it. The technology used will be most accurate including ultrasonic fingerprint identification, iris recognition, facial imaging and signature samples. 

An official from the home department said that the cyber crime cell will hand over this Rs 54 crore project to the Maharashtra police. The conviction rate in the state has improved from 42% to 58% this year.

At present, of the CCTV footage is not clear, it is not accepted by the court. The biometric system will help to verify a suspect as well as save the data to maintain records. As the results will be accurate, it will be accepted by the courts too.

Modernisation of the system was long due and this digital system will help the police to conduct their work promptly and efficiently. There is also a move to connect this system with CCTVs in all police stations, district headquarters and state headquarters.

Officials said the technology is currently being used by the US Army and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to profile convicts and suspects. Apart from speeding up the investigation, the biometric system and the use of other advanced software for all type of records will provide accurate information and better results while matching suspects' fingerprints or other records.