GUWAHATI: The police stations in the state do not have adequate infrastructure to keep a strict vigil on crimes, including cybercrimes.
According to the status of policing in India report 2023, the state police lag mainly on two fronts: the installation of CCTVs in police stations and the setting up of dedicated police stations or units to investigate cybercrimes.
According to the report, till January 2022, the police stations in the state had 558 CCTVs as compared to 14,354 in Gujarat, 32,031 in Madhya Pradesh, 2.82 lakh in Telengana, 7,772 in West Bengal, 730 in Mizoram, etc.
According to a directive issued by the Supreme Court of India in 2020, each police station should have CCTVs at entry and exit points, inside and outside lockups, the inspector’s room, etc. According to the apex court’s directive, each of the 346 police stations in the state should have at least six to seven CCTVs. The report, however, said that in 2016, the police stations in the state had 430 CCTVs, which is 1.2 percent on average. The number of CCTVs increased to 558 in 2020, which is 1.6 percent on average.
The report says that CCTV cameras have a significant impact on reducing the crime rate. The presence of cameras acts as a deterrent to potential offenders.
Cybercrimes continue to maintain an upsurge in Assam. In 2021, the highest number of 6,096 people were arrested in Assam in cybercrime-related cases. However, the rate of submitting charge sheets is as low as 15.9 percent, and the conviction rate is just 2.2 percent.
According to the report, many states have set up dedicated police stations to check for cybercrimes. However, until 2021, Assam had no dedicated police station for cybercrimes. The state had only three cybercrime cells, besides one social media monitoring cell. At the national level, each cybercrime police station or unit handles on average 65 cases. Interestingly, Assam has the highest number of reported cybercrime cases, and one unit has to handle as many as 1,600 cases on average.
The poor charge sheet submission and conviction rates in cybercrime-related cases in Assam have much to do with the overload of the units investigating such crimes.
This aside, the rate of cybercrimes with ‘political motives’ is also maintaining an upsurge in the state. The number of such cases was ten in 2016, ten in 2017, nine in 2018, 16 in 2019, and 24 in 2022. The report said that ‘political motive’ is a term used by the NCRB in its crime in India report to categorize motives behind cybercrimes, but the term itself is not defined anywhere in the report. In the absence of a clear definition, it is presumed here that cases of people expressing their political opinions who were consequently prosecuted under various provisions of law for cybercrime-related offences fall under the category of those with a ‘political motive’.
According to official sources, the Assam Police have taken various steps to curb cybercrimes in the state. Infrastructure projects like the installation of CCTVs are going on in the state. The state police have also tracked many cybercriminals, as several state police personnel received training. The state police also keep tabs on social media.
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