In an effort to improve overall efficiency while investigating cyber crime cases as well as prosecution rates, the State police chief on Saturday issued a circular directing investigating officers (IO) to take extreme care while handling digital evidence.
This is to ensure integrity and authenticity while taking the cases to their logical end, said DG&IGP Praveen Sood in the circular.
Instead of relying on private players, Mr. Sood asked the IOs to use the support and guidance of staff from the Cybercrime, Economic Offence and Narcotics (CEN) station, Cyber Forensic units of the CID, or the State Forensic Science Lab.
While listing the standard operating procedures and guidelines, Mr. Sood stated that the purpose is to provide the police and prosecution systematic guidance to help them understand the technical and legal issues that may arise while handling electronic evidence at crime scene investigations.
“Investigation of any criminal case involves identification, collection and preservation of evidence to support the theory taken by the IO. However, in the wake of significant rise in gathering electronic evidence including desktops, laptops, mobile phones, handheld devices and DVRs and CDRs, IOs have to exercise special care while handling procedural, technical and digital aspects,” stated the circular.
The rise in cyber crime is a problem that Bengaluru has been facing for several years now. The city has consistently recorded the maximum number of cases in India for several years, as per the National Crime Records Bureau. Data for 2019 showed that there were 10,668 cyber crime cases in 2019 – the highest among all the metros in India. Conviction rate, however, remains low, said sources.
Admissibility of digital evidence in the court heavily depends upon how it was handled and taken into possession, Mr. Sood reiterated in the circular.
According to a senior officer, there are two important factors while visiting any cyber crime scene. This includes quick recovery of evidence and secondly, containing the area to gather more details. “Mishandling the evidence leads to destruction of evidence permanently and losing the case eventually,” said the senior officer.