The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked states and Union Territories to use facial recognition, cyber surveillance and real-time alerts to identify human trafficking victims and track suspected traffickers, while strengthening coordination in cases that cross state or national borders.
The guidelines also call for greater scrutiny of social media and recruitment platforms, particularly to detect grooming, fraudulent job offers and overseas recruitment scams.
Proposal for Conducting Cyber Crisis Drill, Tabletop Exercise (TTEx) & CCMP Readiness Exercise
How Will Facial Recognition Be Used?
States have been asked to regularly use the National Automated Facial Recognition System to cross-reference rescued people and unidentified minors with records available on the Mission Vatsalya portal.
The move is part of a wider effort to use technology to help identify trafficking victims and strengthen investigations.
How Will Police Track Trafficking Online?
Police cyber units have been asked to strengthen cyber patrolling to identify grooming patterns on social media and fraudulent job advertisements on recruitment portals.
The guidelines also call for police cyber cells to maintain constant watch over social media and job portals for suspicious offers, particularly those that could be used to exploit or traffic Indians.
How Will Technology Help Track Traffickers?
States and Union Territories have been asked to use the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the Crime Multi Agency Centre platform to map high-risk migration routes and trafficking hotspots.
Police forces have also been asked to coordinate with one another, issue real-time alerts and flag known traffickers moving across state borders.
Cri-MAC can be used to circulate information about serious crimes across the country in real time, while CCTNS provides a common digital system for recording and sharing crime and criminal information.
Why Has Section 111 of BNS Been Highlighted?
Chief secretaries and Directors General of Police have been asked to consider Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with organised crime, while investigating trafficking networks.
The approach is intended to move investigations beyond individual agents or lower-level operators and focus on the larger criminal networks behind trafficking.
Officials familiar with the advisory said it was the first detailed guidance on tackling human trafficking since the three new criminal laws came into effect last year.
What Will Happen in Cross-Border Cases?
For complex cases involving several states or countries, the ministry has suggested forming Special Investigation Teams.
Such teams would allow investigators to share evidence and resources across state lines and coordinate investigations involving different jurisdictions.
The guidelines recommend joint investigations particularly where trafficking networks operate across borders rather than within a single area.
Why Are Overseas Recruitment Scams a Concern?
The guidelines also focus on overseas recruitment scams and the digital exploitation of Indians who are attracted by promises of high-paying jobs.
State cybercrime teams have been asked to closely monitor social media platforms and employment portals for suspicious job offers. Police cyber cells have also been told to maintain vigilance over such platforms to identify signs of possible trafficking activity.
What Is the Wider Focus of the New Guidelines?
The approach seeks to target trafficking networks rather than restricting investigations to individuals operating at lower levels.
By combining facial recognition, cyber patrolling, criminal databases, real-time information sharing and specialised investigation teams, the guidelines seek to improve the identification of victims and coordination against suspected trafficking networks.
The guidelines show how online recruitment offers, social media activity and digital identities can form part of trafficking investigations. Greater cyber patrolling and real-time information sharing could help police identify suspicious patterns while investigations focus on the wider networks behind trafficking.
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