Cyber crimes cases on the rise in Guwahati city

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The rise in cyber crimes in the jurisdiction of Guwahati Police Commissionerate poses a serious threat to the citizens of the metropolitan city district. The situation may escalate if nothing tangible is taken to keep cyber criminals at bay.

According to statistics obtained from none other than Guwahati Police, the number of cyber cases under the jurisdiction of the only police commissionerate in the State in 2020 is 933 against 577 in 2019.

Among the three police districts in the metropolitan city, the highest number of cyber crime cases, 632 was registered in East District in 2020 against 232 in 2019. The number seems to have almost tripled. East Police District is followed by Central Police district both in 2020 and 2019. In 2020, the number of cyber crime cases registered in Central Police District was 180 cases against 224 in 2019. The number of cyber crime cases registered in 2020 in West Police District was 121 cases against as many in 2019.

The police stations that come under East Police district are Dispur, Hatigaon, Basistha, Bhangagarh, Khetri and Sonapur.

The police stations that come under Central Police District are – Chandmari, Noonmati, Geeta Nagar, Pragjyotishpur, Satgaon, Panbazar, Paltan Bazar and an all-women police station at Panbazar.

The police stations coming under West Police District are Bharalumukh, Jalukbari, Gorchuk, Azara, and Fatasil Ambari.

The situation in all over the State is no different. The State has witnessed a sharp increase in cases of cyber crime primarily due to easy access to the internet by criminals and misuse of social networking sites. The State has the highest number of cases registered under cyber crime in the entire Northeast.

According to NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau) data, the number of cyber crime cases in Assam registered under the provisions of Information and Technology Act, 2000, leapfrogged from 2022 in 2018 to 2,231 in 2019.

From time to time, the Assam Police asks netizens of the State to behave responsibly as it is the key to ensure their safety in cyber space. Online fraud in Assam amounts to 60.4% of the total cases of cyber offences, followed by other crimes such as identity thefts and online sexual exploitation. A top police official was in record saying that 'responsible online behaviour is the key to ensuring safety in cyber space'. Responsible online behaviour, according to the police officer, includes keeping personal information private, practising safe browsing, using strong passwords and staying alert from unverified links or websites and immediately reporting to the authorities concerned.

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