VIJAYAWADA: Claiming that the State police department has improved its capacity to investigate reported cybercrime cases over the past two years, Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta said the percentage of money recovered in cybercrime cases had increased from less than 1% to 5%.
The DGP inaugurated the Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (C4) of the NTR police commissionerate at the Krishna Lanka police station on Wednesday. He said the facility would strengthen the police response to cybercrime through technology and specialised teams.
The C4 centre was established with the support of the AP Police Housing Corporation on the directions of the DGP and under the guidance of NTR Police Commissioner SV Rajashekhara Babu. Cybercrimes DCP K Krishna Prasanna supervised the project, while Cyber Crime ACP Bhanu Prakash Reddy and his team developed the facility.
The DGP said cybercrime had emerged as a serious challenge in the State, comparable in scale to the drug menace. He said the State government had taken several measures to control drugs and was now focusing on strengthening the fight against cybercrime.
The State government is keen on bringing in a Cyber Guard policy and plans are under way to establish a cyber war room in Andhra Pradesh, he said.
“Immediate reporting is crucial in cybercrime. Victims should immediately call the National Cyber Crime Helpline at 1930 or lodge complaints through the official cybercrime portal at [www.cybercrime.gov.in,”](http://www.cybercrime.gov.in,”) the DGP said.
He said newly recruited police constables were being trained to handle cybercrimes and 20 cyber constables would be deployed in every district.
The DGP said public awareness about cybercrimes was increasing and the police were adopting a coordinated approach involving technology, specialised training and inter-agency coordination to combat cyber offences.
NTR Police Commissioner SV Rajashekhara Babu said the primary objective of the C4 centre was to protect citizens in the digital space and analyse every piece of information, from the victim’s complaint to the trail of the offender.
He said the police were also using innovative awareness campaigns, including videos featuring characters such as ‘Khaki Babu’ and ‘Cyber Chitti’, social media campaigns, publicity vehicles and drone-based audio messages.