BHUBANESWAR: The state police officers are set to study different online courses, which will be offered by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), to hone their skills in investigating cases of cybercrime. In the districts, the SPs have been asked to nominate the officers who would be enrolled for the online courses.
“We have already discussed the matter with the NCRB authorities. An agreement will soon be signed with them in this regard,” a senior police officer said.
The officer said the NCRB had recently launched at least 18 online courses in six fields for three stages — beginner, intermediate and advanced. The police officers will be taught cyber investigation, intelligence, first responder, cyber forensic, management and prosecution.
The Odisha Police had recently roped in the National Police Academy (NPA) in Hyderabad to improve the probing skills of its officers. Officers from the NPA’s National Digital Crime Resource and Training Centre (NDCRTC) have been visiting Bhubaneswar to organise cyber training sessions in different phases for the state cops. The state police headquarters said the NPA’s physical classes would continue along with the NCRB’s online classes.
“Cybercrimes are on the rise and it is a matter of concern. Accordingly, we have to improve the professional efficiency of our personnel in dealing with such cases. We hope the training programmes would be of great help to our officers,” director general of police Abhay said.
Official statistics said cybercrimes in Odisha saw an alarming rise in 2019 as compared to 2018. While 867 cases were registered here in 2018, the figure shot up to 1,475 in 2019, recording around a 70% rise.
The commissionerate police set up a cybercrime help desk here on January 7 to address the grievances of the victims of online frauds. The helpline number 7440006709 has been receiving at least 30 complaints every day.