Fingerprints to videos and photos, NIA builds its own database of terrorists

According to sources, details of the terrorists and their associates, including their case history, fingerprints, videos, pictures and social media profiles and information on the terror groups they belong to have been compiled.

A source said that at the NTDFAC, the NIA has the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System with over 92 lakh fingerprint records, Integrated Monitoring of Terrorism with data of more than 22,000 terrorist cases along with their case studies, National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-Offenders with data of more than 5 lakh narco offenders, their source of funding, their involvement along with their cases registered in India, their latest pictures and social media profiles.

The NTDFAC will also have a face recognition system, which will help them scan pictures of suspects from any CCTV footage.

Last year, Union Home Minister Shah had asked all state police forces and anti-terror agencies to adopt such a ruthless approach that no new terrorist group can be formed. “We need to not only combat terrorism but also dismantle its entire ecosystem…Terrorism has no boundaries and no state can face terrorism alone. We have to come together to root out this evil,” he had said at a two-day anti-terror conference organised by the NIA.

“The NTDFAC will not only help the NIA officers but also help state police forces to identify details of their suspect from this server. Currently, they have uploaded videos and photographs of the terrorists and their associates, but in future there are plans to also put voice samples to help identify the terrorists,” another source said.

So far, the Ministry of Home Affairs has banned 39 terror organisations and declared 56 people as designated terrorists under the UAPA.

The US’s Global Terrorism Database contains information on more than 125,000 domestic and international terrorist attacks that occurred between 1970 and 2013.