Cracking Bopdev Ghat Gangrape Case: Pune Policemen Succeed, AI Tool SIMBA Falls Short
Reported by Tikam Shekhawat
Pune, 17th October 2024: In the Bopdev Ghat gang rape case, Pune Police have arrested two out of three accused, while the third suspect remains at large. The joint effort by the Crime Branch and Zone 5 team, consisting of over 700 officers, including ACPs, DCPs, and Addl CP level officers, worked relentlessly for a week to achieve this breakthrough.
What has caught attention within the Pune Police force is the successful outcome of traditional policing methods, which involved activating an extensive network of informants, investigating over 400 known criminals, and analyzing more than 1,000 segments of CCTV footage. These conventional techniques proved more effective than advanced technology in this case, sparking discussions within police circles.
Interestingly, Pune Police utilized the AI-based tool SIMBA in their investigation, which, despite high expectations, did not significantly aid in identifying the culprits. SIMBA is an AI-powered tool designed to quickly gather data from various sources like CCTV footage, images, and audio, drawing on a database of 150,000 criminal records. However, in this instance, human-driven investigation outperformed AI assistance.
Both of the arrested individuals have prior criminal records, with cases registered under Pune Rural. The case was cracked based on CCTV footage checked by Ammaldars. This case has sparked a broader discussion about the effectiveness of AI tools in criminal investigations, with some officers believing that AI tools like SIMBA cannot surpass traditional policing methods in solving complex cases.
