How Police in India Use Cardano to Protect Evidence

A police officer arrives at a crime scene, opens an app and photographs a piece of evidence. Behind that action, a cryptographic fingerprint linked to the image is recorded on Cardano.

The process is part of the Forensic Management System, or FMS, used by police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In an episode of the Cardano Foundation’s Let’s Talk Cardano published on November 13, Trivolve Tech founder Rahul Konudula explained how the system tracks evidence as it moves from officers to forensic laboratories.

Konudula reported that FMS had recorded approximately 163,000 Cardano mainnet transactions at the time of the interview. His company is also designing a broader system intended to cover more stages of the evidence process, from records created before a crime through court proceedings.

Protecting the Chain of Custody

A piece of evidence can pass through many hands after police collect it. It may travel from a crime scene to a police station and then to one or more forensic laboratories before being presented in court.

The documented history of those steps is known as the chain of custody. It records how evidence was collected, who handled it, where it went and what happened to it along the way. Gaps or changes in those records can raise questions about the evidence presented in a case.

Konudula explained that one weakness lies in the case number displayed on an evidence box. Anyone who sees the number can identify the case and potentially follow the item as it moves between locations. The Cardano Foundation describes how a shared identifier can connect handlers and laboratories that are otherwise kept separate.

FMS replaces the visible case number with a protected QR code. According to the Foundation, each authorized handler sees an identifier specific to their role, without a direct link to the identifiers shown to other participants. Scans and laboratory results are associated with records on Cardano.

From a Crime Scene Photograph to Cardano

In Konudula’s example, an officer signs into the FMS app using a decentralized identity, or DID, before collecting information and taking photographs.

The system creates a hash, a cryptographic fingerprint used to check the contents of a digital record. That fingerprint is linked to a record on Cardano. When the file is checked later, a new hash can be calculated and compared with the earlier one.

If the fingerprints match, the checked file corresponds to the version previously registered. If they differ, the content no longer matches that version.

Konudula illustrated the process with a 10-minute surveillance video. If someone removed three minutes, the shortened recording would produce a different hash from the original file. New photographs and other records can still be added to a case, with previously registered items checked separately.

Sensitive case information remains in controlled systems, while Cardano provides a layer for recording and checking fingerprints. A matching hash establishes that the checked content has not changed since registration; it does not independently establish whether the original information was accurate or lawfully collected.

An App for Officers, With Blockchain in the Background

Police officers do not need to understand blockchain to use FMS, Konudula explained. They sign into the app, collect information and complete their work through the interface, while the Cardano-based records operate in the background.

He compared the arrangement to a building and its foundation: users interact with the visible application, while the infrastructure supporting its records sits underneath.

The project began with police looking for a solution to a practical problem, according to Konudula. They were not specifically asking for blockchain. Trivolve proposed the technology and selected Cardano as the underlying network.

FMS is designed to sit on top of existing police systems, allowing institutions to retain their established infrastructure and procedures. Konudula pointed to that continuity as an important consideration for governments, which often rely on technology for many years.

Why Trivolve Chose Cardano

Konudula traced his interest in blockchain back to Bitcoin. While he was drawn to its approach to digital money, he wanted to explore applications beyond transferring value.

After studying other networks, he chose Cardano because he viewed its decentralized infrastructure as suitable for institutional systems. He highlighted reliability and the network’s potential to support services used in everyday processes.

For FMS, Cardano provides a shared record against which authorized users can check digital evidence. Officers do not need to manually create transactions; they work through the application while the system handles the underlying process.

Konudula reported that FMS had reached approximately 163,000 mainnet transactions at the time of the conversation. Trivolve previously reported that the system had passed 100,000 transactions.

The figure represents network activity attributed to FMS, not the number of criminal cases or pieces of evidence. A single case can involve multiple records and actions.

[NEWSBREAK]

From FMS to a Broader Police System

Trivolve is also working on the Police Force Management System, or PFMS. While FMS focuses on the chain of custody following an incident, PFMS is intended to cover a wider range of records and procedures.

Konudula described five areas: information created before a crime, such as surveillance and body camera footage; post-incident investigations; evidence storage; prosecution; and court proceedings.

The goal is to make integrity checks available across more stages of the evidence process. During the interview, Konudula described PFMS as a project whose architecture was being designed, rather than a system already deployed across all five stages.

Trivolve has submitted a proposal seeking 9.6 million ADA from the Cardano Treasury to develop PFMS, with a planned deployment in Telangana. The proposal is separate from the existing use of FMS in Uttar Pradesh and remained open for governance voting at the time of the latest available update.

Plans Beyond Uttar Pradesh

Konudula reported that other Indian states have shown interest in FMS and that Trivolve is discussing potential integrations. He also described presenting the system in Munich and speaking with representatives of institutions including Interpol and Europol, as well as interest from Serbia.

He presented those contacts as conversations and expressions of interest. The interview did not announce a contract or confirmed FMS deployment at those institutions.

Trivolve can offer an existing solution or adapt it to a government’s requirements, according to Konudula. He suggested that a standard integration could take two to three months, depending on the institution’s needs and data security requirements.

For PFMS, the team is designing the broader architecture and testing scenarios in which the system could fail. Konudula explained that the findings are used to refine the design as development continues.