ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, Syed Murad Ali Shah, officially launched a police app on Saturday to deal with criminal elements in Karachi and other regions by relying on a comprehensive database of people convicted of breaking the law in the past.

Titled “Talash” – or search – the app was originally introduced last year, in October, to help the Sindh Police deal with mounting instances of street crimes and improve the conviction rate.

It was primarily designed to provide an effective tool to the police while carrying out snap checks during a blockade, making it possible for them to identify a person with criminal record by simply obtaining thumb prints instead of indulging in extensive investigations.

“Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday officially launched Police App ‘Talash,’” informed the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency in a Twitter post. “The software application has been designed to identify the culprits, foreign or nationals, dead bodies through their thumb impressions.”

The post added the app could also identify the recovered vehicles by simply inserting their engine or chassis number.

“The App has complete data on the culprits in its store and is also connected with NADRA [National Database Registration Authority],” it continued. “The chief minister launched the App by giving his thumb impressions to the App device which automatically generated [his] data.”

Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh and the country’s largest and most densely populated city, witnessed a massive surge in street crimes in recent years.

It also remained an epicenter of ethnic, sectarian and militant violence, posing a huge challenge for law enforcement agencies.

Last year, senior police officials noted the only way to prevent such crimes was to effectively employ various forms of technology while introducing the app.