NEW DELHI: In its submission to the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, chaired by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it has been leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) as “a critical enabler” to enhance India’s internal security architecture, as this helps the agencies to undertake real-time surveillance and predictive policing as well as behavioural analysis and crime pattern recognition.
The parliamentary panel, which tabled the report in Lok Sabha on Monday, said that the MHA had informed that it was applying AI tools to add more teeth to the law enforcement agencies’ existing capabilities, especially in the field of cybercrime and financial fraud prevention, as well as what is expected in the future in this direction. This also helps the law enforcement agencies in faster and more informed decision-making, it added.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has established a data analysis lab to leverage AI and machine learning (ML) for complaint analysis and knowledge sharing. “It organised the CyberGuard AI Hackathon to develop models for automatic classification of cybercrime complaints, improving efficiency on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal,” the MHA informed.
The MHA also informed the parliamentary panel that plans “are underway to introduce AI-assisted complaint registration for the 1930 helpline, enhancing user experience”, as collaborations with IIT Bombay and RBI Innovation Hub aim to assign suspect scores to mule accounts and financial transactions by proactively flagging fraud.
Tools like the Proactive Monitoring Tool (PMT), which was developed by CDAC Mumbai, are being fine-tuned to detect Child Sexual Exploitation Material, while AI systems monitor dark web activity and scam networks, it noted, while adding that AI is also applied in facial recognition, vehicle’s registration number plate recognition and counter-terrorism intelligence. This AI model is being further fine-tuned, and it is proposed to be extended to crawl the open web to proactively identify CSEAM content.
The MHA’s I4C also uses AI-based tools to monitor the dark web, scam websites and fraud networks for tracking cybercrime discussions, phishing campaigns and suspicious financial transactions.
Meanwhile, Surakshini, a centre run by the MHA, keeps an eye on crimes related to children and women and helps remove vulgar content, with the I4C sharing a ‘hash’ value. “Currently, the Online Cyber Crime against Women and Children (OCWC) team under I4C identifies complaints related to Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) and Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII) received through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP),” it said.
The SURAKSHINI dashboard will also provide end-to-end visibility into complaint status, takedown timelines, and FIR registration, helping improve coordination and accountability across platforms and law enforcement agencies. The Parliamentary Committee appreciated these initiatives and encouraged the continued use of AI.