State sees sharp rise in cybercrime

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police registered a record number of 404 cases of cybercrime in 2015, indicating a sharp rise in the IT-related offences in the state. In 2014, only 145 such cases were registered in the state.
Official sources said police stations in all districts registered 379 cyber offences last year whereas the lone cyber police station under the Crime Branch registered 25 cases.Bulk of the cases registered by police and Crime Branch was related to identity thefts, cheating by impersonation and harassment on social networking websites.
Non-registration of cybercrime complaints by police stations had been a cause of concern. "Citing lack of expertise, the police stations often referred the cases to us. To ensure that the police stations receive cyber offence complaints, we regularly train the staffers (sub-inspectors and inspectors) of different police stations and gave hands-on training on seizure and collection of digital evidence, forensic imaging, packaging of digital evidence and questionnaire for examination. The attempt paid off and the police stations have started registering record number of FIRs," ADG (Crime Branch) B K Sharma told TOI.
In 2015, the most talked about cybercrime was the circulation of mysterious Bramha (souls) of the deities of Jagannath Temple on social networking sites after the end of Bramha Paribartan (soul transfer) ritual during Nabakalebara. Though the Crime Branch confirmed that the Bramha was fake, the investigating agency has not yet found as to who uploaded the pictures. A nude picture of a girl, hugging Sarathi Baba soon after his arrest last year, too went viral on social media.
"In 2015, we conducted five training programmes for police personnel. This year too we will organize a series of training programmes for them. IT experts from different fields will impart the training," said Sharma.
The state government has also decided to set up cyber police stations in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela. Besides, the Odisha police will set up a cyber forensic division at the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), Bhubaneswar. The division will be functional by mid-2016. "The building is ready. We are in the process of procuring specific software and hardware for the cyber forensic division," he said.