Police would create a database of fingerprints and photographs of criminals before forwarding them to Khudi Ram Bose Central Jail in Muzaffarpur.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajesh Kumar told The Telegraph that the police officers have been asked to preserve the samples of fingerprints and photographs of convicts at the police stations concerned.

“After getting bail, these criminals often indulge in unlawful activities once again. The police sometimes find it hard to nail them. If samples of their fingerprints and photographs are preserved, it will be easier for the men in uniform to catch them,” he said.

Of late, the SSP said, professional criminals have started concealing their identity. “They use fake names once they are released from jail,” he said.

The SSP said five members of the Shambhu-Mintu gang, who were caught at Malkhana Chowk on Monday night while planning to commit a crime, tried to hoodwink the police by concealing their original names.

He said: “Special Task Force personnel recognised them, after which they disclosed their original names. These people are from Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Sheohar and Vaishali districts of north Bihar.”

“We took the decision to create the database to ensure that the criminals do not get away by committing crimes with fake names,” he said.

Kumar added that the database of fingerprints and the albums containing the pictures of the convicts would be kept at the SSP’s office. While only the pictures would be preserved at the other police stations that do not have facilities of maintaining a database.