New Delhi, Sept. 28: The Centre is speeding up a “mega city policing plan” that will arm the cops with techniques such as computer-based face recognition to crack down on militants.

A committee headed by A.N. Roy, Maharashtra director-general of police, is working on a report and is expected to hand it in soon. The Union home ministry will then decide if the plan is feasible. Mumbai is the first city where it will be implemented.

Based on a 2005 concept paper from the Bureau of Police Research and Development, the plan will later be customised for Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, sources said.

The idea is to train the police in metros to tackle cyber crime, economic crime, organised crime, trans-national crime and terrorism.

The advanced face-recognition programmes will allow officers sitting in control rooms to spot criminals and likely militants. “We will need huge databases, and this will require massive computerisation,” a senior officer from the police research bureau said.

The face-recognition software can scan footage from closed-circuit television and compare the images with photographs fed into the database to pick out criminals or militants. An e-beat system, which will help policemen to stay in touch with seniors through radio-frequency identification, is another feature.

Vehicle scanners, in place of mirrors now used to check vehicles, and portable X-ray scanners could be introduced. Community policing is another important component.

Anti-terrorist measures are broadly divided into four parts: counter-intelligence and special task force; strategic weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams; bomb disposal squads and VIP security. SWAT teams will now be equipped with sniper rifles, stun guns and body armours, the sources said.

“Stress will be laid even on the design of uniforms — we feel even the current NSG commando uniforms are uncomfortable,” an official said.