Mumbai to get 4 new cyber police stations

In a bid to tackle the increasing number of cyber crimes in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government has approved the setting up of four dedicated cyber police stations in the city.

“Four new cyber police stations will come up in the city. The government has sanctioned 186 new posts for this initiative and most of them would be in the rank of assistant police inspectors,” K M M Prasanna, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) told PTI.

Back in November, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released a report for the year 2016 in which it had stated that Mumbai stood first among all cities in the country in terms of cyber-crime cases.

According to the NCRB report, Mumbai stood first with 4,172 such cases reported for the year 2016, while Bengaluru was second with 762 cases and Jaipur third with 532 cases.

Despite the high number of cases, the city currently has just one cyber police station at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

However, with the addition of the new stations, Mumbai will become the first city in the country to have five stations dedicated to solving cyber crime cases.

The working of the five stations will be overseen by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank official who will report directly to the Joint Commissioner (Crime).

“Mumbai Police had started cyber crime cells at all its 93 police stations a few months ago. These cells will forward serious matters to the five cyber police stations,” Prasanna said, adding that the stations will help tackle cyber crime more effectively.

A government resolution on the setting up of the four new cyber police stations is expected in a week’s time.