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AI Joins the Force: Maharashtra Police Deploys ‘Crime-OS’ for Smarter Investigations

By Dheeraj Fartode  Imagine a police officer uploads an FIR and within seconds, an AI assistant begins planning the investigation. It write official letters, scan bank data and spot suspicious transactions. It sounds like science fiction - but it’s now reality in Maharashtra. The state police have started using Crime-OS, a powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool developed under the MARVEL project (Maharashtra Research and Vigilance for Enhanced Law Enforcement). This tool, built in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nagpur, works like the co-pilot feature in Microsoft Office - but to solve crimes. It helps police save valuable time and reduces the heavy workload of investigations. Assistant Superitendent of Police (ASP) Deepak Agrawal explained that police investigations usually take a lot of time and effort. Crime-OS is designed to ease that burden. “For example, if a fraud case FIR is uploaded, the tool automatically picks out important information. It t...

Youths abducts girl for Rs 30 lakh ransom, Cops compels him to release her within 3 hours


A girl was abducted by two persons including her male friend who sought Rs 30 lakh ransom from her family on Friday morning. However, timely action by Nagpur police compelled the accused to release the girl within three hours.
Rishikesh Kishore Porkhe (21) and Chipu Bhaurao Chavan (21), both residents of Chandan Nagar, are now cooling their heels behind the bars at Imambada police station. The victim and accused are living in the same locality in Chandan Nagar. The victim’s father is a vegetable trader in Kalamna market and she is trying to get admission in medical courses. Rishikesh's father is owner of a restaurant in Ganeshpeth area and he works there. Rishikesh and the girl are close friends. He even got her name inked on his heart, police officials said.
According to police, the girl was abducted by the accused when she was on her morning walk in Imambada area at around 7 am. They bundled her in the car near Chandan Nagar and sped away from the spot. As the girl did not return home, her parents started searches. The accused phoned the girl’s father by using her mobile phone and demanded ransom of Rs 30 lakh. The father got tense and informed the police. The City police immediately swung into action and all police stations and the Crime Branch were put on high alert. Similarly, a Quick Response Team was also deployed for immediate response. CP Amitesh Kumar directed all police stations to enforce nakabandi on the important roads and squares and keep an eye on suspiciously moving vehicles.
A police official said that CCTV cameras at the girl’s place have mobile connectivity and can be accessed remotely in her mobile phone. Aware of this facility in the girl’s mobile phone, the accused were remotely watching activities at her place. When the accused saw cops entering her place, they again contacted her father and threatened him for informing the police. The cops were also in shock and prima facie suspected someone is passing information to the abductors. The police also activated informers in the Chandan area and got a tip-off that Rishikesh is not present at his place from morning hours. The cops visited Rishikesh's house and asked his parents to get his whereabouts by contacting him, police officials said. This trick helped the police to solve the case. During conversation of Rishikesh with his parents, the police grew suspicious of him. As per the instructions of the police, the parents asked him to not escalate the matter further. This was the tipping point of the case after which the abductors let their guards down and released the girl in Sakkardara area removing sim card from her mobile phone.
The girl contacted the parents by using a phone of a vegetable vendor. She was immediately picked up by the police and taken to the hospital for a health check-up. Later, she was handed-over to her parents. The accused were arrested by the police under Sections 364 (a), 386, 294 and 506 of Indian Penal Code. The accused will be produced in the court on Saturday. 

Rishikesh had asked his friend Imran for his car four days ago on the pretext of going to receive a guest at the airport. As Imran’s car was busy on Friday, he arranged a customer's Skoda car from his garage. He took the girl to Futala and later Manewada area during the tense three-hours. The accused used the car to abduct the girl which was seized by the police.

Sources informed that Rishikesh wanted to get married with the girl. However, the girl’s father was against the relationship. Therefore, he hatched the conspiracy to teach a lesson to the father, police officials said and added that involvement of the girl in the crime is also being investigated.


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