Police begin collecting DNA records under 2022 law; over one lakh profiles generated
Police in several States have started collecting DNA records, primarily from blood samples, of suspects arrested in heinous crimes. Along with DNA profiles, photographs, fingerprints
Police in several States have started collecting DNA records, primarily from blood samples, of suspects arrested in heinous crimes. Along with DNA profiles, photographs, fingerprints and iris scans, the government is creating a unique identification record of arrested persons and convicts that can be retained for up to 75 years. Over the past five months, DNA records of more than one lakh suspects have been stored in a central database operated by the Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The samples are being collected under the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act (CrPI), a law passed by Parliament in 2022. While the provision for recording, storing and analysing measurements such as fingerprints, retina scans and iris scans of arrested persons was rolled out in March 2025, the recording of DNA profiles took longer as State police forces lacked adequate forensic expertise and storage capacity, an NCRB official said. More than 2,600 measurement collection units have been established across the country, and the CrPI system is now available in police districts and prisons. It is also accessible to central agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Investigation Agency and the Narcotics Control Bureau.
The contours of the CrPI system were showcased on June 19 at an NCRB event presided over by Home Minister Amit Shah. The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2024, makes forensic examination of crime scenes mandatory for all offences punishable with seven years or more of imprisonment. “The samples are at present being collected by police in cases punishable by seven years. The DNA, mostly drawn from blood and in some cases saliva too, is then sent to a forensic laboratory, which generates a unique number. The NCRB preserves the code in its records. The sanctity of the samples depends on the police,” an NCRB official said. A presentation on the CrPI system stated that accurate identification of criminals is a fundamental requirement for effective investigation and that the CrPI Act, 2022, was passed by Parliament “so that identification-based evidence could get legal recognition.” “This Act allows police and prison officers to take physical and biological samples of arrested and convicted individuals. To make these provisions effective, there was a need for a national platform that could integrate and make identification-related data useful across the country.
The BriefWire