The Bihar government has announced the setting up of 44 cyber police stations across the state to deal with the rising cases of cybercrime and related activities.
Each of these police stations will cover the 40 police districts and rail police districts in the state and will be headed by an officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police (DSP). The units will function under the economic offences unit (EOU) of the Bihar police.
Administratively, Bihar has 38 districts, but the police follow their own divisions in this regard.
Every cyber police station will also have four inspectors, three sub-inspectors, one computer programmer, three data assistants, two constables and a driver. They will work in close coordination with other normal police stations in the districts to crack down on cyber fraud.
“Organised gangs of cyber criminals are targeting people, especially women and the elderly, and robbing them of their hard-earned money. Cybercrime has shot up phenomenally in the state since the Covid-19 pandemic. Crimes are being committed through bank transactions, forgery, fake websites, social media, emails and messages. These new police stationswill deal with these,” EOU additional director-general Nayyar Hasnain Khan told reporters.
Khan said that each of the cyber police stations would have jurisdiction over the entire district and would investigate online or Internet-related financial frauds, atrocities and exploitation of women, children and the elderly through the Internet, as well as, all crimes that come under the purview of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
“The cyber police stations will also take up and investigate all cases that involve complex technical issues pertaining to information technology, computer systems and Internet resources entrusted to them by the district superintendents of police,” Khan added.
The victims can directly approach the cyber police stations with their complaints to register FIRs. The complaints submitted through emails, post or couriers will be quickly probed and FIRs will be registered.
