Guwahati | Assam Police has become the first police force in the Northeast and only the third in the country to be registered as an Offline Verification Seeking Entity (OVSE) under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a development expected to strengthen identity verification and enhance policing across the state.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the achievement on Friday, stating that the registration would enable police personnel to verify Aadhaar credentials instantly, even in areas with poor or no internet connectivity.

According to the Chief Minister, the facility will be particularly beneficial in Assam’s hill districts, riverine char areas and remote border villages, where internet access often remains unreliable.

“Being an OVSE will allow a police patrol party to instantly verify a person’s credentials by scanning the Aadhaar QR code without depending on internet speed,” Sarma said in a post on social media platform X.

The offline verification system uses Aadhaar QR codes embedded with a UIDAI-issued digitally signed and tamper-proof seal. This allows police officers to authenticate identity documents without accessing the internet, making it considerably harder for criminals, imposters or illegal infiltrators to use forged or manipulated Aadhaar cards.

Officials said the technology would strengthen security checks in border regions and during routine patrols by enabling on-the-spot identity verification without requiring access to UIDAI’s central database.

The move is also expected to improve the efficiency of several public-facing police services, including passport verification, tenant verification, character verification and arms licence verification, reducing processing delays and improving service delivery.

Using the Aadhaar QR code, police personnel will be able to authenticate key details such as a person’s name, photograph, address, gender and date of birth while simultaneously confirming the authenticity of the document.

The Chief Minister described the registration as another milestone in Assam’s efforts to modernise policing through technology-driven solutions.

“With this registration, Assam takes another step forward towards efficient, watertight and people-friendly policing,” Sarma said.

The OVSE framework is part of UIDAI’s secure offline Aadhaar verification mechanism, which allows authorised agencies to verify Aadhaar documents without accessing personal data online, ensuring both privacy protection and reliable identity authentication.

The development is expected to bolster law enforcement capabilities in remote and sensitive areas while supporting the state government’s broader push for technology-enabled governance and citizen-centric policing.