Artificial Intelligence has become a key part of our lives in recent years — utilised for both mundane tasks and crucial activities. It has also become an unlikely tool for the police to fight crime.
The Maharashtra Police has now found a way to ‘harness’ AI to fight crime — nabbing a hit-and-run driver within mere hours with very little information. The incident had taken place in Nagpur on August 9 with the truck rushing away after hitting two people on a bike. The vehicle had run over the woman after she fell to the road. Visuals that have since gone viral show that the man subsequently tied the body of his wife to the bike — taking her to their village in Madhya Pradesh.
Accused found within 36 hours!
The man had been able to provide the police with very few details about the tragedy — merely recalling the red markings on the truck. Officials said he was unable to identify its make and model, or provide details about its size and other features. The Maharashtra police had subsequently turned to AI for help in nabbing the runaway driver.
“What was done here was that CCTV footage, or as we call it metadata, of three separate toll nakas, which were at a distance of 15-20 km from each other, was collected and it was analysed using two AI algorithms. Both of which were based on a technology called Computer Visual,” the police told NDTV.
The AI algorithms had scanned CCTV footage from toll plazas until they identified a suspect truck with red markings within 36 hours. AI had also scanned large video data for trucks matching the description and calculated their average speeds to find the accused.
Similar cases in other states?
Artificial intelligence has been used to crack several cases in recent months — including murders, thefts, and even a cold case. The Kerala Police had used AI to digitally age suspects’ photographs — cross-referencing them with social media profiles — to identify suspects in a 19-year-old murder case. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police had utilized AI to digitally reconstruct the victim’s face from incomplete data, aiding in identification and investigation. The Mumbai police had also used the technology to crack a case involving theft of gold, silver, and diamond jewelry valued at Rs 36 lakh earlier this year.