Nivaran-Blockchain Based FIR System
Riddhi Mehta, Nikita Khabya, Janhavi Patil, Sukanya Roychowdhury · 2024
In the era of rapid technological advancements and evolving law enforcement agency requirements, the adoption of blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative approach to enhance the First Information Report (FIR) complaint system. In India, the incidence of criminal activities is on the rise, with many going undisclosed. Despite the availability of an online platform for maintaining FIRs and NCRs, the prevailing practice involves manually writing the majority of FIRs. Typically, a complainant must physically be present at the police station to report a legally punishable crime. While the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) introduced in 2009 has been a successful nationwide e-governance system, it remains state-specific and centralized. Therefore, the necessity for a fully decentralized system arises to eliminate a single point of failure, ensuring secure and confidential handling of complaints. The aim is to propose a blockchain-based complaint management system for both cognizable and non-cognizable offenses. In this proposed system, the police report undergoes hashing, encryption, and inclusion in the blockchain network, with storage in the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). The blockchain captures the complaint and its timestamp, providing substantial evidence in cases where the police may decline to file a formal complaint or acknowledge receipt. This approach mitigates the risk of tampering or non-reporting of FIR/NCR records, as all data is stored in an immutable database.