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Himachal Pradesh Police on Wednesday launched a scheme to reward officers who excel in investigation in an attempt to strengthen policing of cybercrime in the state. In a first-of-its-kind initiative amongst all the states' police forces in the country, the hard work of the officers making an effort to learn the technicalities and excelling in investigations would be recognized and rewarded, Superintendent of Police (cybercrime) Rohit Malpani said.
Under the scheme, 'Cyber Crime Investigator Badge' will be given to officers who excel in the field of cybercrime investigation. The badge will be given by the DGP twice a year, a spokesperson of the police department said. It will motivate the young officers to specialize in the field of cybercrime investigation and also give them a unique identity, Malpani said.
A standard operating procedure (SOP) has been framed in this regard. The purpose of the SOP is to focus on cybercrime and heinous crime investigations, training and capacity building, out-of-state raids and liaison and learning new technologies, he said.
As many as 2,129 complaints pertaining to financial fraud were received at the Cyber Crime police station in Shimla till October 2022. The average monthly complaints registered in the state on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal is around 5,000.
Cybercrime has increased in the past few years. Unlike conventional crime, the investigation of such cases requires special skills and knowledge, the spokesperson said. Investigation of this genre of crime is very arduous and requires long hours before a computer resource as well as travel to risky criminal areas out of the state, the official said.
(With PTI inputs)
