Balasore: Cyber crime has been on the rise in north Odisha. Keeping this in view, the state government had taken a decision to set up a cyber police station in Balasore, but no step has been taken in this regard.
The district reported 70 cyber crime cases in 2015-16 and the number of such cases rose to 88 in 2017-18. In 2018-19, the number has crossed 100. Most of the cases have allegedly not been cracked.
The state police took serious note of the issue. Former DGP RP Sharma had announced at a press meet about six months ago to set up a cyber police station here.
The district police have opened a cyber cell to keep a tab on cyber crimes in the district. However, the cell has not been working properly, it was alleged.
As a result, criminals have been committing cyber crimes with impunity.
If the cyber police station is set up, expert and experienced police officers will be engaged along with use of advanced technology to trace criminals and their activities, locals said.
With rise in cashless transactions, online frauds have been increasing. There are cases of funds being siphoned off from bank accounts of people in the district. Cases of account hacking and uploading of obscene pictures on social media are also on the rise. The culprits in most cases go unpunished.
SP Jugal Kishor Kumar Banoth, however, said here has been no information from the state government about setting up of a cyber police station in Balasore.
PNN
