How AI helped Delhi Police to solve a blind murder case

Delhi Police used artificial intelligence (AI) to reconstruct the face of an unidentified murder victim and employed the image on posters to seek information about his identity. The novel approach not only led to the victim's identification but also played a crucial role in apprehending the perpetrators, according to police sources.

The incident unfolded when the body was discovered near the Geeta Colony flyover on January 10. The victim's lack of identification documents posed a significant challenge for investigators. Following the autopsy, which revealed the cause of death as strangulation, Delhi Police initiated a 72-hour AI-driven facial reconstruction process to establish the victim's identity.

"For us, it was a blind murder case as no documents were found in the victim's pocket that could help us identify him. The body was taken into custody and... after 72 hours, doctors conducted an autopsy which revealed that he was strangled to death," a senior police officer said on Wednesday.


A team of 30 police personnel utilised AI to digitally reconstruct the victim's face, creating an image with open eyes and a changed background. The reconstructed image was then disseminated across Delhi through over 400 strategically placed posters and shared digitally through WhatsApp groups by January 12.

The breakthrough in the case occurred when a man, upon seeing the poster outside a police station, identified the victim as his brother, Hitendra.

During the investigation, it was found that Hitendra had a fight with two persons over a woman around two months ago. The accused persons met him on January 9 and strangled him to death. The accused were in an inebriated condition at the time of the incident, police said.

Four people, including a woman and a cab driver, have been arrested in connection with the case, police said.

Inputs from PTI