Mumbai: Cops to get tech savvy to tackle cyber crimes

Mumbai: Maharashtra State Cyber Department has launched an initiative to train more than 300 police officers to understand and investigate cyber-crimes involving phishing, crypto-currency related money laundering, darknet activities, UPI and net-banking scams, and online child pornography.

According to the police, the concept and need for such training was envisioned by the Additional Director General of Police, Cyber & EOW, Madhukar Pandey. India Child Protection Fund (Kailash Satyarthi's Child Foundation) has also been roped in for the training, officials said.

“Continuous learning is the need of the hour and law enforcement agencies should be a step ahead of the cyber-criminals in order to catch them. It is important for policemen to keep up with the latest technology to counter the dynamic landscape and challenges posed by cyber-criminals,” a police officer said.

The six-day training course will also impart knowledge on the importance of digital forensics in all types of crimes. Training will be imparted in small batches. One such batch has already completed the training this month, he added.

The police department plans to equip more than 5,000 policemen across the state with such training in the future, Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra Cyber, Yashasvi Yadav said.

"When Maharashtra Cyber was established in 2016-17, in each district and city in the state a cyber police station was set up. Only Mumbai city had multiple cyber police stations. Then the staff was trained to handle cyber-crime cases. After the tenure of a policeman is completed he is transferred, so at least 30 percent of policemen who had received training are likely to have been transferred. Now the new lot of policemen have to be trained,” ADG Pandey said.

“Also in the last four-five years, cybercrime is such a fast-evolving field that new types of crimes have emerged which the policemen have to be trained to handle. The idea is to ensure skill and capacity upgradation,” said ADG Pandey.