Software to help identify bodies

Bio Verisys integrates data from police, NADRA, prisons dept

LAHORE:

With the help of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Lahore police have developed a software that enables immediate identification of bodies and criminals. According to officials, previously, the process of identifying unknown individuals or bodies was tedious and time-consuming, taking at least two months to receive details from NADRA. Experts from the Crime Scene Unit and the Punjab Forensic Science Agency collected fingerprints and sent them to NADRA, which then collected, identified and send the information back to the relevant agencies and the police.

The Bio Verisys software integrates data from Punjab Police, NADRA and the prisons department, allowing the police to upload fingerprints themselves and receive a person's profile within a brief period of time. If the individual has a criminal record, this information will also be displayed, as the software is linked to the Punjab Prisons system. Unidentified bodies have been a significant challenge for Lahore police as a large number of such corpses are found in areas across the city.

According to a study by the Drug Training Hub, at least 60 unidentified bodies were recovered in Lahore in May, while the figure for the first five months of 2022 was 205. The number does not include bodies that were found on the streets of the provincial capital after crimes. With scarce resources and outdated techniques, identifying the bodies and locating the families of the deceased had become nearly impossible.

Previously, the police relied on manual methods to identify the deceased before their burial, such as issuing advertisements for public assistance. However, as the city's population has grown, these methods have become increasingly ineffective. To address this issue, the Punjab Police began posting pictures of unidentified bodies on their official website a few years ago. An official said that once the Bio Verisys software proves successful, it will enable the police in the field to identify victims more efficiently and effectively than through the manual processes. The software will initially be available at the investigations headquarters before being rolled out in the rest of Lahore and the province.