Kollam: Evidence room at police station goes hi-tech

Kollam: A police station in Pathanamthitta has converted the ‘Thondi room’ (room to store stolen goods) into a high-tech storage room where the police can identify the case details on mobile phone with the scanning of QR code pasted on each item.

This can help the police avoid setbacks in courts, including weak prosecution associated with inappropriate details and delayed production of material objects. The state police chief has ordered the implementation of this facility in all police stations in the state by mid-October. The room storing such goods retrieved during police investigation has been in a mess without scientific organisation of items, making it difficult to identify each item and its production before the courts.

The project was implemented with the help of the district cyber cell. The stolen goods were first cleaned and marked to identify the cases pertaining to them. This data was then collected in a data bank connected to a computer network and then to Crime Drive, the online facility operated by the Kerala police.

A QR code has been assigned and the printout of the code was pasted on each item in the room. The details pertaining to the goods will be available when scanned using QR code scanner on mobile phones making it easy for the police to identify each item.

“These Thondi rooms are usually left unattended and it is difficult to identify the items. Connecting it to QR code and then to the Crime Drive network has enabled the officer concerned to identify the item and understand when it should be submitted before the court and whether it could be disposed of if the case is over. This will improve the efficiency of prosecution in the court,” G. Jaidev, district police chief, told DC.

The QR data include case number, summary of the case, name of the court in which the case is impending and the current status of the case provided by the Crime Drive. This could enable police officers to produce the item before the court at the right time to ensure faster completion of the case.

The method was effectively implemented in Kodumon police station in the first phase and then in the Pathanamthitta police station.