As the Ludhiana Commissionerate has around 2,100 complaints related to cyber crime lying pending from months, the Cyber Wing of Ludhiana has been told to intensify probe in all cases and bring the accused to book. - File photo

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 11

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal has set a target to dispose of most of the complaints by December 31. The Cyber Wing is daily registering one FIR and wing is also disposing of complaints of which complainants are not turning up for investigation.

Ludhiana top in cyber complaints

According to the Police Commissioner, Ludhiana has been receiving higher complaints than the any other police district. As per the data collected from the police, daily on an average, 30 to 35 complaints related to cyber fraud are being received by the police. Due to high pendency, probe into the cases takes more time. The CP said the police cannot immediately register case in cyber crime as some preliminary investigation is needed to establish the fraud.

Mohali has the only cyber police station in Punjab equipped with latest tech Punjab police has set up state level cyber crime investigation cell at Mohali where cell is equipped with high end machinery and equipment to trace the cyber criminals. Any other police district including Ludhiana, if require assistance related to cyber crime, they have to contact the Mohali cell and due to this, probe into the cases often gets delayed. The CP said now Ludhiana cyber cell is also working on the pattern of a separate cyber police station as newly recruited cops having technical knowledge have been deployed in the cell and they are also getting routine training from cyber experts and the only drawback is that cyber cell cannot register FIR at cyber cell rather FIR has to be registered at the police station falls in the area of the complainant. Setting a cyber police station require huge infrastructure which is not possible at this time, but considering the rising cases of cyber crime, police can think of moving a proposal for the same.

Arrest of criminals a Herculean task

Despite the Ludhiana police has been registering cases of cyber crime, arresting suspects is not an easy task. Most of the cyber criminals are operating from far-flung states. “In the recent case, the police registered a case of cyber fraud against persons belonging to Delhi, Tripura and Nagaland for duping the boutique owners of lakhs by not sending the ordered dresses. CP Agrawal, however, said after registering a case, the state police concerned was being informed about the suspects and raids would be conducted to nab the accused.

Social media fraud tops list of offences

The top three cyber related crime complaints registered with the police were found related to social media fraud (fake id, abusive content etc.), financial fraud through OTP/PIN and link and sale purchase fraud through QR code. Complaints related to social media stood at 300, followed by 200 financial fraud issues and 150 sale purchase complaints. Others types of complaints were: