Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the Abhigyan app on June 19, 2026, enabling police to scan fingerprints on smartphones and match them instantly with the NAFIS database.
The app, developed by the National Crime Records Bureau, connects to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System. It holds records of 1.3 crore suspects and convicts. A demonstration showed matches can occur in 35 seconds.
Mr. Shah said the tool gives field officers quick access to criminal histories during street checks. He noted the database covers 9.91 lakh narcotics offenders and 3.65 lakh human trafficking cases. The app uses two-step authentication and works on smartphones.
Currently, fingerprint checks against the database are limited to 1,556 workstations at police stations. The Criminal Procedure Identification Act, 2022, provides the legal framework, though it restricts mandatory collection to certain cases. Mr. Shah stressed the need to enrich the database with crime-scene prints and improve training for evidence handling.
