Govt to set up new traffic setup, 20 new cyber police stations

Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt on Wednesday notified the formation of ‘Traffic and Road Safety Wing (T&RWS)' alongside establishing 20 additional cyber police stations statewide. The T&RWS unit will function directly under Odisha DGP's supervision, as per official order seen by TOI. The govt has sanctioned 66 positions for the proposed T&RWS headquarters in Bhubaneswar, with an additional 1,930 posts allocated for district-level deployment.
DGP Y B Khurania states, "The new wing will have direct administrative and operational control over highway patrolling, urban police & traffic training institute, Bhubaneswar, and emergency response & support system & public safe answering point."
The T&RSW's core responsibilities encompass traffic management, enforcement, emergency response, road safety enhancement, lead agency strengthening, data-based decisions, technology utilisation, legal compliance, resource administration, NGO partnerships and public engagement initiatives.
"Govt has sanctioned 987 new posts in various ranks for 20 newly-created cyber crime & economic offences police stations and strengthening of the existing 14 cyber police stations in the state, to overcome the rising menace of cyber crimes and economic offences," Khurania told TOI.
The existing 14 cyber stations will maintain their current structure with two cyber forensic experts, two IT specialists and two finance analysts each. The 20 new facilities will operate with four specialists per station: Two IT professionals, one cyber forensic expert and one finance analyst. The OCAC will assist in recruiting 170 experts through third-party outsourcing.
Over the past 10 years, Odisha witnessed an exponential surge in cyber crime incidents. Police records indicate a staggering 1917% increase, with cyber cases escalating from a mere 124 in 2014 to a worrying 2501 in 2024.
The financial impact of cybercrime too has risen significantly in the last six years. While fraudsters swindled victims of Rs 8.97 crore in 2018, the monetary losses escalated substantially to Rs 154.5 crore in 2024, recording an alarming growth of 1,622%.