A central database comprising of different types of information about prisoners across the country was launched at the Rapid Action Battalion Headquarters in the capital's Uttara yesterday.

At the ceremony, Rab officials said using the database it would be easy for them to determine the types of crime the inmates committed.

It will also be known how many arrestees are sent to and released from jails each day, and the dates of their appearances before courts.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who inaugurated the Prison Inmate Database, told the programme that the information about criminals' escape and entrance to the country would be available in it.

The database will be integrated with the national ID cards and passport database, he said.

The inmate database will comprise of about 200 types of information of a prisoner, including biometrics finger prints of 10 fingers of both hands and retina scan.

Rab Director General Benazir Ahmed said other law enforcement agencies could also use the database.

On November 27 in 2014, Rab developed a computerised database of 22,000 convicted criminals and 18,000 detained persons.

Using the database under a network, Rab personnel across the country had been about 150 types of information of rearrested persons, including their names, addresses, photos, fingerprints, occupations, and past crime records.

Rab Legal and Media Wing Director Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan said the information from the earlier database would be integrated with the new one.