The 2.8 million citizens of India’s Firozabad district may now be able to sleep a little tighter, after the launch of a new police complaint portal that uses blockchain technology to prevent manipulation.
On Oct. 12, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal announced in a series of tweets that the Polygon blockchain protocol is now being used by Firozabad police in Uttar Pradesh to fight against local police corruption and crime.
Called the First Information Report (FIR), the portal allows victims of crimes to register complaints against local police officers without the complaints either being dismissed or manipulated by potentially corrupt officers.
Nailwal shared that the project was very close to his heart because he grew up hearing stories of victims not getting justice due to local police corruption, many of who were victims of rape.
जनपद में जनशिकायतों के त्वरित निस्तारण हेतु पायलट प्रोजेक्ट “पुलिस कम्पलेन्ट ऑन ब्लॉक चैन” को लॉन्च किये जाने के सम्बन्ध में वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधीक्षक फिरोजाबाद द्वारा दी गयी वीड़ियो बाइटः- 1/2 @Uppolice @adgzoneagra @igrangeagra @IpsAshish pic.twitter.com/kTBolZbfwV
— Firozabad Police (@firozabadpolice) October 10, 2022
The video shared by Nailwal was posted by the Firozabad police, featuring a snippet from the Senior Superintendent of Police for Firozabad, Ashish Tiwari.
Nailwal said the FIR going on the blockchain ensures that the reports can not be manipulated or denied by lower-level officers, and “could be a game-changer in ensuring right to justice.”
In the announcement, Nailwal also thanked the police commissioner for going beyond the call of duty to implement and innovate with technology to ensure equitable justice.
The announcement from the Firozabad police has also been picked up by others in the crypto community, with many seeing it as great news for Polygon, blockchain technology and the citizens of Firozabad.
Twitter user @srinigoes, a veteran of the Indian navy, commented to their 15,200 followers it was “an amazing initiative” to get complaints registered on blockchain, which would ensure transparency.
“The biggest problem in the interiors of India was whoever registered the FIR (First Information Report) first, had first mover advantage,” he said.
Police Complaints(FIR) on blockchain powered by @0xPolygon
— Sandeep | Polygon 💜🔝3️⃣ (@sandeepnailwal) October 12, 2022
This is very close to my heart. We grow up hearing about so many of such cases wherein due to some corruption in a local police department, victims(mostly of rapes) are not even able to register complaint or…1/2 https://t.co/k9gRMD6r08
Kashif Raza, founder of crypto education start up Bitinning noted on Twitter that the first complaint portal on Polygon has now been launching meaning:
Under the guidance of tech-savvy (IIT-Kharagpur) IPS officer @IpsAshish, 🇮🇳's 1st police complaint portal on @0xPolygon blockchain has been launched in Firozabad (UP).
— Kashif Raza (@simplykashif) October 12, 2022
1) Complaints are now immutable.
2) Verifiable.
3) Easy to file.https://t.co/aKbio1ljts@sandeepnailwal🚀
“1) Complaints are now immutable. 2) Verifiable. 3) Easy to file.”
How can you lodge a complaint?
According to the website, complaints can be lodged at any place and any time, which will reach respective stations accordingly.
Here are some of its features as outlined on the website:
- Grievance can be lodged by any individual./ Complaints can be lodged by any person.
- ReCaptcha verification./ ReCaptcha verification
- Online lodging of grievance. / Online filing of the complaint
- Dedicated officer validation of the grievance. / Dedicated Officer Verification of Grievance
- Facility to send reminders for pending grievances. / Facility to send reminders for pending complaints
- Token number generation for further status inquiry. / Token number generation for further status inquiry
- View the current status of the grievance
- Village-based categorization of grievances/Village-Based Classification of Complaints
- Facility to upload one grievance document. / Facility to upload a complaint document
