Nagpur: Nagpur police cracked a fatal hit-and-run case within 36 hours using artificial intelligence (AI), despite having almost no information about the vehicle involved. The incident took place on August 9, Raksha Bandhan day, when a couple travelling on a bike in Nagpur was hit by a speeding truck.
The woman fell on the road and was run over by the vehicle, which fled the spot. In shock, her husband tied her body to his bike to take it back to their native village in Madhya Pradesh. A disturbing video of the act went viral on social media.
With little to go on, cops faced a near-impossible task. The husband, the lone eyewitness, could only recall that the truck had red markings. He could not identify its size or make. However, Nagpur Rural Police turned to technology to bridge the gaps.
Superintendent of Police Harsh Poddar explained that CCTV footage from three toll plazas, located 15–20 km apart, was collected and fed into two AI-based computer vision algorithms. “The first algorithm filtered footage to identify trucks with red markings, while the second calculated their average speed to narrow down the suspects. Based on this, one truck was identified,” Poddar said, as quoted by NDTV.
Accused Driver Arrested
Acting on the lead, police teams tracked the vehicle to the Gwalior-Kanpur highway, nearly 700 km from Nagpur. The accused driver was arrested and the truck was seized, effectively closing the case within a day and a half.
Officials said the case underlined how AI is transforming policing. Traditionally, scanning several terabytes of CCTV and telecom data would take weeks and remain prone to human error. In this case, 12 hours of footage was analysed in just 12–15 minutes using AI tools, allowing police to move quickly and decisively.
Maharashtra's Own AI Platform
The success has also drawn attention to Maharashtra’s state-owned AI platform, MARVEL (Maharashtra Research and Vigilance for Enhanced Law Enforcement). Billed as the first of its kind in India, MARVEL is designed to create AI-driven solutions for law enforcement and other government departments using state-owned data. “Maharashtra is the first state to create such a system, and many other states have expressed interest in replicating it,” Poddar said.
