Dedicated cybercrime police stations were opened in most of the 15 districts in the Capital on Wednesday. Police officers, however, said that the project will be a success only when the required manpower is deployed and they are well-trained to handle such cases.
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A senior officer from the New Delhi district, where a cybercrime station was opened on the Mandir Marg police station compound, said until now victims of cybercrime would come to the police stations to lodge their complaints but were not taken seriously as there were more “serious cases” to work on.
“However, that will not be the case anymore. Officers at the police station would direct the victims to the cybercrime police station where they will be heard seriously and action taken on their complaints,” he said.
A senior officer from Dwarka district said that the initiative has been taken by Commissioner of Police Rakesh Asthana because the system has to catch up with newer technologies and ways to tackle such crimes.
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“These days, crimes are occurring on the dark web and as India is becoming digital, it is only natural that online fraud will increase. The traditional policing system will not be able to deal with cybercrimes. Therefore, dedicated police stations are the need of the hour,” he said.
About the challenges of working on cybercrime cases, the officer said that the force does not have the resources or trained personnel. “There are officials who don’t even know how to use a computer. For now, those who have domain knowledge and IT background have been deployed at the stations,” he said.
“Trained manpower, required infrastructure along with a focused approach in a customised setting are now being addressed by the Commissioner of Police by way of cybercrime police stations,” said DCP (Dwarka) Shankar Choudhary, who formally inaugurated the station in the district on Thursday.
A sub-inspector rank officer, privy to the developments, said currently officers who were earlier with the cyber cell in each district have been deployed in the cybercrime police stations.
“According to the procedure laid out for such police stations, a total of 38 officials should be deployed but that hasn’t happened so far. This project will be a success only when the required staff are posted and they have domain knowledge,” she said.
A senior police officer from Outer district said that cybercrime cases are on the rise and only the nature of online fraud changes depending on the area. “Hence, the need for a separate station in each district arose.”