KOCHI: It was an important day for Kochi city police as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated numerous projects, including Cyberdome and Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), at Kakkanad on Saturday. On the occasion, the chief minister said that the Kerala police is one of the most advanced police forces which has won accolades from across the globe. “Cyberdome will help prevent cybercrimes in the state. The Cyberdome not only helps in detecting illegal activities on cyberspace but also provides awareness on safe and secure handling of cyberspace. The personnel working at the Cyber police station are trained to handle IT Act and online economic offence-related cases.
“As Infopark and nearby areas have employees and their families from different parts of the country, around 50 police officials have been deployed at the Infopark police station to ensure their safety and security. Scientific evidence is crucial for crime investigation and opening of the new RFSL in Kochi will help police probe cases effectively,” he said. He also lauded the Kochi city police for launching the Yoddhav app which will help combat drug abuse. On the occasion, the chief minister sent a message from his WhatsApp to Yoddhav app. He also unveiled a model of the police complex in Kochi at the function.
State police chief Loknath Behera said the police force is closely linked with technology. “For us, Cyberdome is a successful initiative which started at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram. Considering cyber activities, we decided to have more Cyberdomes in the state. The Cyberdome at Kozhikode will be launched soon,” he said. He said unmanned and paperless police stations in Kerala will be launched by August 15 this year. The police department is working on the concept of unmanned and paperless police station now. P T Thomas MLA and City Police Commissioner Vijay Sakhare also spoke on the occasion. District Collector S Suhas, Deputy Commissioner G Poonguzhali, Mayor Soumini Jain and K J Maxi, MLA, were also present in the event.
Infopark police station and Cyber police station.
The Infopark police station came into existence in 2015. However, it was functioning at a rented building outside the Infopark. Now, the police station will function from own building shared by Cyber police station as well.
RFSL
RFSL Kochi will be the fourth forensic science lab in the state. RFSL will prioritise examination of material objects collected by Crime Branch which doesn’t have a dedicated forensic laboratory. The RFSL in Kakkanad will also have facilities to examine samples in Cybercrime cases.
Yoddhav app
Yoddhav app was developed to help the public report drug sale or drug abuse incidents to the police. The app is designed in such a way that the officials in the police station will not get any details of the person who share the information on drug sale or abuse using the app. Any person who wants to share the information has to sent a message via WhatsApp to 9995966666. A dedicated team has been appointed to handle the app. They will divert the information to the police station concerned without sharing details of the person who had sent the message.
Virtual courts to dispose of cases
After unmanned police station, the state will soon have virtual courts to dispose of cases related to traffic offences. Recently, state police chief Loknath Behera attended a meeting convened by the Kerala High Court authorities in which a decision was taken to start virtual courts by April 1. “The virtual courts will handle cases involving persons who do not want to pay penalty for a traffic offence and contest it at the court. The court will be started at three places in the state,” Loknath Behera said.
Cyberdome
Cyberdome is functioning inside Infopark. Cyberdome in Kochi is the second in the state after Thiruvananthapuram. Cyberdome in Kochi will be monitoring social networking sites and research on emerging cyber crime trends on webspace.