Mohammed Asif
With the steep rise in the number of cybercrimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kolkata Police has launched several projects to stop online frauds.
Launching a number of projects with emphasis on protecting women from cyber crimes, the Kolkata Commissioner of Police, Anuj Sharma, said: “The pandemic showed how much we are prone to cyber crimes. There has been a steep rise in the number of complaints, both at the police stations and on social media platforms against women. These crimes are very personal and intended to harm the reputation of women. To counter them, a help desk will be created for women in the cyber cell of police stations.”
Joint CP (Crime) Murlidhar Sharma, said: “This help desk will help women who have been short-changed or harassed online. Women and children can contact trained women officers and seek their advice.”
A door-to-door campaign –named ‘Raksha Kabach’ –will also be launched at each police station with help from NGOs, educational institutes, banks and telecommunication companies.
Its pilot run has been successful at Behala and now it will be made a permanent feature.
“We will bring our ‘Pronam’ initiative for the elderly under this scheme. Each day, we receive many complaints of fraud or attempts of fraud,” added Sharma.
Among the other initiatives being undertaken, is the setting up of cyber cells at all nine police divisions.
“These cells will help the main command centre of the detective department in tracking down criminals. They will also train investigating officers of several divisions,” said the senior police officer.
“While bigger crimes will be dealt by the cyber cell and 
anti-fraud sections of Lalbazar, our job will be to stop the flow of money as soon as we get information to minimise the loss,” added the senior officer.
Another important project will be the Sandhan Project to trace missing persons, especially children, with help from NGOs.
“We are coming across cases of missing persons, including children in the city. We want to trace them with help from NGOs. Many of them are ready to help us. The Missing Persons Squad of the detective department wants to streamline this area. We will prioritize certain cases and intervene at the earliest,” said Sharma.
