Siddarth Sethia
In a move to streamline investigations into unclaimed and unidentified dead bodies,Karnataka Police have directed investigating officers to exhaust all conventional and forensic methods before seeking Aadhaar-based biometric data to establish identity.
The direction was issued by ADGP,Crime and Technical Services,P.Harishekaran,on behalf of the State police chief,as part of guidelines for investigating unidentified dead body cases.
Investigators must first check missing-person records and alert the District Missing Persons Unit/Missing Persons Squad to ascertain whether anyone matching the description has been reported missing.
They have also been directed to send wireless messages nationwide and circulate hue and cry notices with photographs through the Cri-MAC portal under CCTNS.
Police have been asked to use facial recognition, fingerprint databases,besides DNA matching and examination of personal belongings and distinguishing marks.
Aadhaar request after 72 hours:
If the identity remains unknown 72 hours after recovery, the investigating officer must submit a detailed report to the jurisdictional SP or DCP explaining the need for Aadhaar-based identification.
The SP/DCP must forward the request the same day to the State Police Nodal Officer, not below the rank of SP.
After scrutiny under Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016,the nodal officer may forward the request with justification to the Joint Secretary (IS-I),Ministry of Home Affairs, for taking it up with UIDAI.
The guidelines make it clear that Aadhaar data cannot be accessed through bulk or exploratory searches and every request must be case-specific,proportionate and need-based.
The SOP issued by the Directorate of Forensic Sciences seeks to standardise the identification process through better documentation, evidence preservation,forensic examination and coordination among police and other agencies.
