CCTNS
Definition
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems. Pan-India platform for FIR registration and inter-state crime data, rollout from 2009 under NCRB.
- Full name
- Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems
- Scope
- Pan-India FIR registration and inter-state crime data
- Rollout began
- 2009
- Administered by
- NCRB
Common questions
What problem was CCTNS designed to solve for Indian policing?+
Before CCTNS, crime records were largely siloed at the local police station level, making it hard to track offenders or link cases across state lines, so the system was built to give police a shared, searchable national database of FIRs and case data.
How does CCTNS support investigations beyond simple record-keeping?+
It lets an investigating officer in one state search for prior FIRs, arrests or case patterns involving a suspect anywhere in the country, which helps identify repeat offenders and connect crimes that would otherwise appear as unrelated isolated incidents.
Related terms
- BPR&D
- Bureau of Police Research and Development. MHA body for police modernisation, training standards, and forensic-equipment specifications.
- CFSL
- Central Forensic Science Laboratory: a central government lab operating under DFSS. India has CFSLs at New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune, Guwahati,...
- DFSS
- Directorate of Forensic Science Services, India; issues the Forensic Laboratory Manual that governs glass and soil examination procedures, including the bromoform-based density...
- FIR
- First Information Report under Section 173 BNSS 2023 (formerly Section 154 CrPC). Trigger document that feeds into CCTNS and downstream forensic referral.
- GEQD
- Government Examiner of Questioned Documents: the central body for document examination with offices at Shimla, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, examining handwriting, ink, paper,...
- MHA
- Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Parent ministry for DFSS, CFSLs (excluding CBI-administered CFSL Delhi), NCRB, BPR&D and NFSU.
- NCRB
- National Crime Records Bureau. MHA body established 1986; runs CCTNS, publishes the Crime in India report, and operates CFPB and NAFIS.
- NFSU
- National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar. Established 2020 by Act of Parliament, which declared it an Institution of National Importance. India's national university...
- NICFS
- National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science: India's central forensic training institute in New Delhi, running courses for forensic scientists, police, and...
- RFSL
- Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. Sub-state, district or zonal level. Absorbs the SFSL's overflow and handles district-court matters.
- SFSL
- State Forensic Science Laboratory: a state-government lab that processes the bulk of routine casework from state and district police. Quality and capacity...