Facial recognition system at Mumbai stations helps catch suspects
Mumbai's Facial Recognition System (FRS), running across 114 Western Railway stations, has helped police catch suspects in real time.
Just last month, it led to the arrest of two men for harassing a Portuguese tourist, and it tracked down Omkar Shinde after he stabbed a college professor in January.
The system also helped trace a missing 14-year-old boy to Rajasthan and even helped identify a suspect in an assault case that had gone cold.
How FRS works
The FRS scans faces using key features like eyes, nose, and cheekbones, then matches them against a database that in 2024 alone received over 10,000 uploaded photographs, including images linked to agencies such as the NIA and CBI.
It sends instant alerts if there is a match and can map out people's travel patterns, like tracing daily commutes.
Since its installation in 2022, FRS has helped solve dozens of passenger baggage-theft and robbery cases across the railway network.
Mumbai Police units, which operate more than 5,000 cameras, are in the process of linking FRS to their network.