Cyber crime jumps 76% in Odisha: NCRB report
BHUBANESWAR: Cyber crime increased by nearly 76 percent in the state in 2019 as compared to 2018, the latest data released by the national crime records bureau (NCRB) said. While 843 cyber crime cases were registered in 2018, the figure shot to 1485 last year.
NCRB said most of the cyber crime cases were related to fraud (ATM and online banking). In 1,000 cases, the motive of the offence was to commit fraud. Other motives included extortion (279 cases), sexual exploitation (136 cases) and revenge (24 cases). At least 397 cases were registered for publication and transmission of sexually explicit materials.
The state reported a total 331 ATM frauds, taking it to third place after Bihar (792 cases) and Maharashtra (454 cases). The state reported 545 online banking frauds, which is second highest after Maharashtra (552 cases).
The NCRB report showed poor disposal of the cyber crime cases and conviction in court. Not a single case either ended up in conviction or acquittal last year. Currently, 768 cases are being trialled (548 pending trial from previous year and 220 sent for court trial in 2019) in courts across the state.
Experts suspected the alarming rise of cyber crimes happened because of lack of awareness and cyber precautions among the victims. “Though it is difficult to cite the exact reason for the spurt in cyber crimes, inadequate safety precautions on cyberspace could be a strong factor in falling prey to cyber crooks. Social media users, mostly women, should be extremely careful and cautious while befriending with strangers on chatting sites,” IT expert Prashant Sahu said.
A few days ago, the commissionerate police proposed to the state police headquarters for establishment of a cyber forensic laboratory in Bhubaneswar to investigate crime against women. In his proposal, the commissioner of police Sudhanshu Sarangi said the objective of the proposed cyber forensic lab is to provide a one-stop solution for search, analysis and securing digital data in all forms of cybercrime against women.