The district cyber crime police have so far recovered 875 stolen and lost mobile phones worth ₹94.50 lakh and restored them to their rightful owners, Superintendent of Police L. Balaji Saravanan said here on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after handing over 100 mobile phones, worth about ₹15 lakh, to the owners, Dr. Balaji Saravanan said the district cyber crime police, after registering 28 cases regarding online fraud, had recovered ₹46.59 lakh from the fraudsters and returned the money to the victims last year. Moreover, ₹19.62 crore in bank accounts belonging to online fraudsters had been frozen. The amount would be returned to the victims after getting due orders from the courts.
He said the sincere and sustained efforts being put in by the district police, particularly by organising ‘Maatraththai Thaedi’ (In Search of Change) programmes in all villages to sensitise and encourage villagers to desist from unlawful activities, had brought down the number of murder cases in the district. While the district saw 78 murders in 2022, the number had come down to 68 in 2023. The police had resolved 70% of the 578 crime cases in the district and ₹3.87 crore-worth properties had been returned to the owners last year.
In the drive against drugs and banned tobacco products, the police had seized ₹1.53 crore-worth 1,535 Kg ganja from 249 persons and 127 cases had been registered against them last year. Consequently, 30 ganja peddlers and smugglers had been detained under the Goondas Act, while 155 others involved in heinous crimes were also detained under this Act.
“After arresting 5 persons for smuggling ganja oil, the police’s hard work has ensured their conviction. All of them have been awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment,” said Dr. Balaji Saravanan, who honoured the children of the police and the ministerial staff for having bagged top 10 ranks in SSLC and Plus Two public examinations in 2023.
Additional Superintendent of Police Karthikeyan (Headquarters), Unnikrishnan (Cyber Crime) and Inspector of Cyber Crime Sivasankaran were present.
The SP also handed over ₹13.36 lakh on the occasion to three persons who had lost their money to online fraudsters.
