[ISN] Cyber Crime police station comes up in Mumbai

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200906031252.htm

The Hindu
June 3, 2009

Mumbai (PTI): A dedicated police station to tackle cyber crime cases has 
been set up in the metropolis, third such facility in the country to 
deal with new-age offences.

The Cyber Crime police station, the first-of-its-kind in Maharashtra, 
started functioning since May 30 in Bandra-Kurla Complex at suburban 
Bandra.

Such specialised police stations are already operating in Bangalore and 
Hyderabad, two top IT hubs of the country.

"The dedicated police station will now register FIR on its own and 
investigate the offences pertaining to virtual world. The police station 
will take care of all cyber cases in the city including that of terror 
e-mails," Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) Deven Bharti said.

The existing Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the city police probes 
cyber offences, but the FIRs are registered in local police stations 
depending on the site of the crime.

A specially trained team of over 25 policemen, headed by an Assistant 
Commissioner of Police (ACP), has been selected for the new job.

The facility will function under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner 
of Police (Preventive) and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

"The city is divided into five regions - East, West, North, South and 
Central, which will be monitored by an equal number of senior 
Inspectors. The staff at the new police station has been specially 
trained for the job and their skills will be upgraded from time to 
time," an officer said.

The number of cyber cases rose from 142 in 2005 to 775 cases in 2008.

A total of 159 and 344 cyber crime cases were registered in 2006 and 
2007 respectively.

Of the total 775 cases registered in 2008, maximum, 164, were related to 
fake profiling, defamation and sending obscene content, while the 
lowest, two, pertained to a matrimonial website.

So far this year, police have received over 155 complaints of cyber 
crimes.

Among various cyber crimes, a significant number of people fell prey to 
a Nigerian letter scam in which the receivers are made to believe that 
they have inherited property worth crores in the African nation.

Credit card frauds, sending vulgar contents, identity theft, hacking and 
lottery scams are among other fraudulent practices in which netizens are 
getting trapped.


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