TRAKEA SOFTWARE FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Prelims level : Governance – Institutional Reforms Mains level : GS-II Government Policies & Interventions for Development in Various Sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
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Why in News?

  • Haryana Police has adopted unique bar-coding software Trakea to ensure tamper-free Criminal Investigation.

Highlights:

  • As per the conventional practice all over the country, the crime exhibits are labelled with complete details, including the case FIR number; the police station; and the names and addresses of the victim, accused, medical officers, etc.
  • With these details available, the crime exhibits can be easily traced and tracked by virtually anyone.
  • The crime exhibits could include DNA samples, documents, and reports of ballistics examinations, serology, biology, toxicology, lie-detection, etc.
  • From the time the sample is collected to the time when forensic experts draw their final conclusion, there are multiple stages where the accused can use their influence to tamper with the sample in order to get a favourable forensic report.

Trakea Software:

  • Essentially, it is a forensic evidence management system that helps in automation of the entire procedure, right from the stage when forensic experts collect vital samples from the scene of crime.
  • Trakea is aimed at ensuring security and a tamperproof tracking system for forensic reports. It streamlines the functioning of Forensic Science Laboratories.
  • Even the selection of forensic teams is done randomly through this software.
  • Trakea ensures foolproof security of the samples collected from the scene of crime, and the forensic analysis reports, and is different from traditional methods that the state police force has been following for decades.
  • Haryana Police claims it is the country’s first police force to have introduced this unique bar-coding for forensic reports.

Development & Functionality:

  • The software was originally designed by a prisoner who was lodged in Bhondsi jail for 13 months.
  • A software engineer by profession, the man was facing charges of having murdered his wife, but was ultimately acquitted by the trial court.
  • The same software engineer had earlier designed a software digitizing data pertaining to prison inmates and prison operations across all 19 jails of Haryana.
  • Using this software, the judiciary too will be able to track the forensic examination report during the trial, significantly cutting down on delays.
  • The system includes features of two-stage bar-coding to maintain the secrecy of the samples, sent along with a strong, unbroken biometrically authenticated chain of custody trial.
  • It is coupled with features to eliminate chances of pick-and-choose by automated case allocation to the scientists, followed by report-generation and real-time tracking of the status of cases through automated e-mail and SMS notifications.
  • Also, there will be no case details mentioned on the crime exhibits/samples/parcels except the unique bar code that can only be read through the biometric system.
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