Vizag Crime Watch - Cyber crime stations to be strengthened

Cyber crime is on the rise, turning out to be the ultimate tool and den for hardened criminals and the police stations have to be strengthened and officers trained to handle it, said Additional Director General of CID Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, while inaugurating a two-day workshop on cyber crime for police officers of AP here on Tuesday.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Director General of Police N. Sambasiva Rao are concerned about this growing menace and have proposed to open at least one cyber crime police station in each district, adding to the one each in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada and the one still functioning from Hyderabad. Of the total cases registered in the State, ATM fraud cases are 234, followed by 230 cases of phishing and vishing and 167 cases of pornography and email abuse.

Regarding ATM fraud and phishing and vishing, he said the police have to educate people more about this crime. “Despite our campaign, educated people still fall prey and disclose their personal details including OTP to the fraud callers,” Mr. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said.

He insisted that officers trained well before they are given charge of the police stations and investigations. “One should have a broad knowledge of what to do, what and how to pick up evidences from the scene of crime, as they play a major role in the investigation. We can always take the help of experts, but basic knowledge is important,” he said.

City Commissioner of Police T. Yoganand said an average of two to three cases of cyber crime are being recorded in Visakhapatnam per day. Over 700 cases per year have been registered during the last two years, giving it the dubious distinction of being the cyber crime capital of the State and the number two city in the country, after Bangalore. IG (Law and Order) of Meghalaya G.H.P. Raju pointed out that cyber crime has no boundaries and it is beyond police stations, and this advantage is being exploited to the hilt by the criminals. With the advent of smart phones, cyber crime has increased 10 folds, he said. “Terrorists in the North-East region use cell phones with fraudulently obtained SIM cards to control the entire network and operations, which includes terrorist strikes, kidnapping and extortion. And in most of the cases we land up with a blind lead,” he said. Registrar of Andhra University V. Uma Maheshwara Rao urged the police to make use of the newly opened centre for cyber security in the university. A. Anil, founder-chairman of ESF labs, spoke about various types of cyber crimes. Joint Commissioner A.S. Khan, DCP (crime) T. Ravi Kumar Murthy, DCP (law and order) Naveen Gulati, CID SP U. Ram Mohan were present.

Last year we trained about 405 officers including 282 probationary SIs and 123 district officers

Dwaraka Tirumala Rao

CID Additional DG

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