Cuttack: Cyber offenders better take note. In an attempt to check rising cyber crime in Orissa, the state police department is set to launch a Cyber Forensic Laboratory, revamp the State Forensic Science Laboratory at Rasulgarh and modernise the cyber wing of Crime Branch (CB) among other initiatives soon.
Sources said, the state government has decided to set up three cyber police stations at Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela. A gazette notification in this regard will be published shortly. Apart from these three stations, the police have proposed to the state government for the setting up of three more cyber police stations.
“We have proposed to the state government for establishing three more cyber police stations at Bhubaneswar, Balasore and Jeypore in Koraput,” director general of police (DGP) Rajendra Prasad Sharma said, while inaugurating a two-day specialised training programme on Cyber Security and Cyber Crime Investigation at the CB headquarters here Tuesday.
Sharma said the unprecedented rise in cyber offences in the past couple of years has challenged the state police. While 378 cases of cyber crimes were registered with the cyber police in 2016, there has been a big rise in cyber offences with a whopping 669 cases registered, as of October 2017.
“Cyber crime cases are being registered on a priority basis. We have instructed all police stations to ensure prompt registration of such cases,” Sharma added.
Asked about the infrastructure at the existing cyber police stations Sharma assured of taking adequate measures in this regard.
“We will arrange for all possible equipment and infrastructure for the cyber police stations soon,” the DGP added.
Expressing concern over the rising threats of ATM hacks, ransomware attacks and e-banking frauds in the state, Sharma directed top police officials to collect and preserve digital evidence among other relevant data to ensure speedy investigation of cases.
Speaking on the occasion, Crime Branch ADG Santosh Kumar Upadhyay said that the Crime Branch has been hosting events and workshops every year to make the citizens aware of cyber offences and precautionary measures needed to counter them.
“Around 90 top officials have joined the programme. The officials will be trained on ways to investigate, detect and prosecute cyber crime cases,” Upadhyay added.
He further said that a cyber forensic laboratory will be inaugurated November 22. Sources said, currently, the police department has to depend on other states for advanced examinations.
“Plans are afoot to renovate the State Forensic Science Laboratory at Rasulgarh by March 2018. This apart, we have decided to modernise the cyber wing of the CB,” Upadhyay added.
Sources said that the state lacks state-of-the-art technology to bust cyber crimes whose figures outnumber the criminals arrested in these cases.
Examination of seized items like computer systems, internet sites, email id and hardware equipment is not possible in some cases due to lack of requisite facilities, revealed some officials who participated in the special state-level training session.
When asked about number of cyber crime cases busted so far Upadhyaya said, “Some criminals have been arrested and efforts are on to trace all the culprits.’’
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