The opposition in the Maharashtra assembly today came down heavily on the BJP-led government for not providing data regarding conviction rate in cyber crime cases in the state.
On the second day of the monsoon session, several opposition leaders, including Balasaheb Thorat and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan (both from Congress), raised the issue in the House.
Interestingly, Eknath Khadse (BJP), a former revenue minister, also joined the opposition when it raised questions regarding cyber security and conviction rate in cyber crimes.
Chavan said, "Conviction rate in Maharashtra related to cyber crime cases should be revealed by the government. Such incidents are increasing gradually, but conviction rate figure regarding the same is not being made public."
Khadse said, "A senior representative like me had to suffer because of a fake cyber crime case. I had to step down (as a minister) and for almost one year my name was constantly linked with an international gangster.
"Police recently arrested a hacker for misleading the investigative authorities. The hacker got bail after the arrest but my name has got maligned forever."
The former BJP minister was referring to the arrest of hacker Manish Bhangale, whose claim of a link between Khadse and a gangster was found to be unsubstantiated by the ATS.
"There have been incidents of two women MLAs of the state receiving lewd messages. I want to know what action has been taken in this regard," Khadse asked.
Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said, "A total of 6,640 cases were registered under the cyber crime category in the state from May 2014 to May 2017. Of them, 1,640 were reported in 2016. Police arrested 666 people (in cases since May 2014) and filed chargesheets in 104 cases."
But Patil was interrupted by Chavan and the MLAs of the Congress and the NCP, who wanted to know conviction rate in such cases.
Patil said, "As of now, the exact figure on conviction rate is not available with the government. The government can ask the home department to provide figure which can be then put before the House."
Not satisfied with his reply, the opposition members created noisy scenes.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)