June 20, 2018
Kolkata Police to set up one cyber crime cell in each of its 9 divisions
With the spurt in cyber crimes of various types, Kolkata Police has decided to set up a cyber crime cell in each of the nine police divisions in its jurisdiction. According to the police, there are a growing number of complaints of tech torment, especially from women.
The first two cyber crime cells have been planned to be in the Port and South Suburban divisions. Currently, there is only one such cell for the entire city – functioning from the police headquarters at Lalbazar.
The primary duty of the cyber crime cells will be to tackle trolling and provide the forensic back-up needed for investigating cyber offences. Complaints related to e-mail hacking, fake social media profiles and cheating through impersonation are common. A large number of such complaints are received from women.
On an average, around 200 cases are forwarded to the cyber crime cell at Lalbazar from the 79 police stations annually. Add to that the complaints the cell receives via emails and the social media. This year till May, the Lalbazar cell has received more than 1,700 complaints.
Last October, 86 posts had been created for tackling cyber crime. Apart from new recruits, select officers from police stations are being trained to investigate cyber offences.
