Chandigarh Police is preparing to install cyber desks in different police stations of the city to deal with the increasing cyber crime.
These cyber desks which will investigate and resolve cases on cyber frauds will be started by February. Now, a victim can go to the cyber desk of his area’s police station and lodge a complaint, whereas earlier one had to go to Sector-17 cyber cell or Sector-9 police headquarters.
Year after year, number of complaints received by the cyber cell was doubling.
There are around 55 police personnel deployed in the cyber cell. In 2020 alone, the cyber cell received more than 6,300 complaints. This implies that only one policeman is working on an average of 114 complaints. If some more cops are deployed in the cyber cell, then this figure can be reduced to a great extent.
Cases of threats on phone, use of social media under a fake name, asking for ATM PIN, changing ATM card, withdrawing money and other small frauds are piled up. Because of this, cases take up to a week or several months to settle.
Therefore, cyber cell had sent a proposal to settle such complaints at the police-station level. According to sources, DGP Sanjay Beniwal has approved the cyber desks installation proposal.
Around 400 police personnel were given basic training about cyber crime for a week at Police Line, Sector-26, in this regard. Around two-to-three police persons will be deployed at these cyber desks in different police stations. In view of the increasing cases of cybercrime, in 2018, the police department had sent a proposal to set up a separate cyber police station in the city. But the proposal had not been approved till now.
Separate police stations have been established in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and other cities to deal with cyber crime. While this is not the case in Chandigarh, cyber cell policemen say that if a separate police station is formed, cyber crimes can be reduced to a great extent.
