Ending a wait that lasted over seven years, work on the exclusive cyber police station for Kochi city is all set to begin at Kakkanad.
According to officials, the State government has already allotted the first instalment of funds for the construction of the 3,000-sq ft building, which is coming up on a 42-cent property near the Kakkanad Infopark. The three-storey structure will house a full-fledged cyber station coupled with a cyber investigation training facility, in addition to the regular Infopark police station.
The city police have sought a convenient date for the State Police Chief Loknath Behera to inaugurate the work on the ₹2-crore project.
CI to head
According to the proposal, the cyber station will house a full charging unit headed by a Circle Inspector and three sub-inspectors. It will also comprise 10 senior civil police officers and 40 civil police officers.
“The officers attached to the station will be given expert training in various cyber security programmes and investigation techniques. The proximity to Infopark enables technical assistance from outside in case of emergencies,” explained P.P. Shams, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara.
Though the city police have an efficient cyber cell, its role is largely restricted to administrative work and tracking complaints. A dedicated cyber police station is being set up in the light of increasing cyber-related offences.
Kochi accounts for 0.79% of the total reported cyber crimes from metropolitan cities in the country, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau report. Of this, the motive for 60% of cases was illegal gain. It was found that the motive for around 21% cases was causing disrepute.
However, senior officers of the Kochi City police felt that the number of reported cases constituted less than half of the actual number of instances.
They sought to attribute such a mass under-reportage to social stigma experienced by victims, mostly women. The numbers apart, poor rate of detection is a cause for concern as the servers of the websites are located outside the country.
