BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police on Wednesday inaugurated the Cyber Forensic Division at State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) here.The laboratory, set up at a cost of `1 crore, will be led by two scientists who have undertaken training at various institutions including the Central Forensic Science Laboratories. The scientists will be assisted by supporting staff to examine computer devices, mobile phones, encrypted files, pornographic and other such incriminating content besides digital devices, along with recovering the deleted data from gadgets.
The team, including scientists Dr Shyam Sundar Das and Dr Achyuta Biswal, will also investigate other offenses like phishing, ATM/debit/credit card frauds, e-mail frauds, Facebook related crimes, and others.
“The law enforcement agencies were referring cases to Central Forensic Science laboratories in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chandigarh, for examining the digital evidences. The process of investigation was getting affected due to non-receipt of forensic findings on time,” Odisha DGP Dr RP Sharma said during the inauguration.
“There has been a surge in cyber crimes and the number of such cases have doubled in recent times. About 378 cases were registered under the Information Technology Act in 2016, and around 669 cases have already been registered till October this year,” he added.A proposal has also been submitted to the State Government for setting up cyber police stations at Bhubaneswar, Balasore and Jeypore, police said.