Telangana Police stand number one in the country in conversion of online complaints about cybercrimes into FIRs.
Though the state stands number fifth in the country in terms of online complaints reported, it converted 17.52 per cent of these complaints into First Information Reports (FIRs).
Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy said on Tuesday that media reports that Telangana tops in cybercrimes and human trafficking as report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) don't reflect the true picture about the occurrence of crime.
The higher number of cases of cybercrimes and human trafficking registered are attributed to the proactive measures taken by Telangana Police to deal with such crimes effectively and render justice to victims, he said.
The fact that Telangana Police stood first in conversion of petitions into FIRs in the entire country, though several other states have much more number of cybercrime online petitions received testify our commitment to control crime and render justice to victims, he said.
The police chief stated that the increase in registration of crimes reflects the proactive efforts of Telangana police in fighting the crime effectively. Telangana Police has always adopted an approach of zero tolerance against any kind of crime. The free registration of FIRs is done by the police with a view to bring every violation on record, so that the grievances of complainants are effectively addressed and offenders are brought to book and successfully prosecuted.
"In this digital era, cyber offences have been happening all over the country. Most cyber offenders have been operating from Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and NCR and targeting victims across the country," the DGP said.
The Centre has established the Indian Cybercrimes Coordination Centre (I4C) in MHA to coordinate cybercrime prevention and detection efforts between various police agencies and stakeholders. Under I4C, Cybercrime helpline 1930 and the National Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) were started by the Centre to facilitate easy and speedy reporting of cybercrimes.
In June 2021, Telangana operationalised the NCRP and toll free helpline 1930. Since then an amount of Rs 26.6 crore has been prevented from going to cyber fraudsters after commission of cyber crime, due to timely intervention of Telangana Police. The MHA has been regularly reviewing the functioning of this facility with all the states and given directions to convert the online complaints reported into FIRs so that the money can be restored to the victims and offenders be brought to justice.
The DGP pointed out that the FIR conversion percentage of Telangana is the best in the country at 17.52 per cent. The number of online complaints reported in Telangana was 80,697.
Uttar Pradesh tops the list of online complaints received at 2,20, 131 but the number of FIRs registered is only 1,432 (0.65 per cent). Delhi Police could register 3,919 (2.73 per cent) from 1,43,712 complaints reported.
Maharashtra reported 1,26,811 online complaints and the number of FIRs registered stood at 950 (0.75 per cent) while Rajasthan reported 91,033 complaints and the FIR conversion percentage was a mere 0.26 per cent.
Saved Rs. 26 Cr or 23% in country
All the states put together, using NCRP, have prevented Rs 116 crore from going to cyber fraudsters. Out of this, Rs 26.6 crores has been prevented by Telangana Police alone, which is 23 per cent of the total amount, and highest in the country.
Telangana police has been in the forefront in identifying and busting nationwide cybercrime networks of loan apps fraudsters, KBC lottery frauds, Aadhar enabled payments frauds, Xsilika payment frauds, etc. We have also discovered and reported links related to 34,000 cases registered country wide and shared with MHA, the police chief said.
CyCaps, a software developed by Telangana Police to track cybercrimes and criminals is being used by 25 states in the country and the same has been awarded the first prize in IT applications this year by the Centre. This award will be given on August 31.
On anti-human trafficking, the DGP pointed out that Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI has mandated for establishing Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in all districts in the country in 2018.
Telangana has been in the forefront and established AHTUs in all 31 districts as specialised monitoring units for all cases to be registered and dealt with regarding prostitution, sexual exploitation, bonded labour, child labour etc. AHTUs are established and monitored closely by Unit Officers and Women Safety Wing at State level vertical for effective registration, investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases.
In 2021, Telangana police booked 347 cases relating to prostitution, bonded labour, child labour etc., under sections 370, 370 A, PITA, Special and local laws etc., and arrested 480 traffickers who are operating mostly as individuals and not as a part of any organized networks.
The MHA has appreciated its efforts in enforcement against various forms of trafficking and requested to send best practices followed in Telangana regarding AHT work to be emulated by other states, the DGP added.
