To fight crime using AI, Maharashtra Police create MARVEL

MARVEL will assist in addressing various crimes, including cases related to missing women and children, fatal accidents, stolen vehicles, and organised gang-related activities, to name a few. It will also assist the cyber cell tackle fraud cases.

What is MARVEL?

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned completely by the Maharashtra government, MARVEL has been created in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nagpur. The Maharashtra government, IIM Nagpur and Chennai-based Pinaca Technologies entered a tripartite agreement on March 22 this year and the company was registered under The Companies Act, 2013.

“We are trying to use AI positively in crime detection. MARVEL is a platform where we are creating different modules for crime detection assistance. Any unit can send their case to MARVEL for technological assistance. The company will come under the state home ministry,” Deputy Chief Minister and state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis told The Indian Express.

For instance, if a car involved in a crime needs to be traced using footage from standard CCTV cameras and the registration number is captured, this footage can be sent to MARVEL. The platform can analyse the data using AI to help identify and apprehend the suspect. This is a simple example. There can be multiple complex applications like data mining etc.

Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik told The Indian Express that MARVEL can be used across all verticals within the Maharashtra home department. She also highlighted its potential in handling large data sets and its capability to narrow down police investigations by tracing the location of culprits or identifying crime scenes, thereby leading to concrete investigations.

This initiative marks the first formal implementation of AI within a police setup by any state. MARVEL is currently exclusive to Maharashtra’s departments, which need to present problem statements to receive tailored AI solutions for their cases.

AI to help with data

“AI works on large volumes of data using which one can train digital algorithms. This is not just necessary to make predictive analysis but can also provide solutions for which one might need a human entity,” informed Harssh Poddar, Superintendent of Police of Nagpur Rural police, who is also the ex-officio director of this company and the CEO of the SPV.

Poddar explained that for organised crimes generating large amounts of data, MARVEL will use AI algorithms to analyse, visualise, and alert on key entities, allowing the police to take action. These AI algorithms will help make sense of the data, aiding in resolving cyber and financial fraud cases.

“There are two approaches to product development,” explained Poddar. “One option is for MARVEL to host and run the platforms in-house. Alternatively, the platform can be handed over to the respective government departments with MARVEL providing support and training their personnel. The decision will be made on a case-by-case basis. If training is needed, it can be conducted at the IIM Nagpur campus.”

The Maharashtra Government holds complete shares in the company and will release funds in parts for five years. The first instalment of Rs 4.2 crore was recently released.

Pinaca Technologies is MARVEL’s tech partner. The company will create AI algorithms, with MARVEL retaining the copyright. Ten generic products are already available for rollout and the state will soon issue instructions on their use. The AI tools developed by MARVEL will enable the analysis of more data dimensions with reduced human labour and assist the cyber cell when needed.

MARVEL is a corporate entity set to be commercialised in due course. Once commercialised, a business model will be necessary and IIM Nagpur will provide resources, training and AI expertise for the same. Bhimaraya Metri, Director of IIM Nagpur, said that the campus will offer research and development support to MARVEL, making Maharashtra a pioneer state in AI research initiatives.