Though it topped the list of metro cities in cyber crime cases reported across India, the work of Bangalore’s cyber crime police station (CCPS), incidentally the country’s first, has been affected with severe shortage of staff to take up technically challenging task in Silicon City.

Not just that, the CCPS is hard-pressed for sufficient number information technology (IT) experts, which has resulted in a large number of registered cases remaining unresolved.

Cases in inbox

The CCPS, which registers 150 to 200 cases a year, has around 70 cases since last year in its inbox where initial investigation itself is pending for want of technical experts, said a senior officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

This police station has eight officers of the rank of deputy superintendent police, six police inspectors and over a dozen other staff.

However, many are lacking in technological expertise, which is crucial in cracking cyber crime.

Looking for training

The officer said that they were looking to compensate by providing training to the staff by experts from NASSCOM on collection of cyber evidence and its analysis, apart from other technical aspects.

The CCPS did hire experts for technical support from various IT companies, but most of them quit because of poor remuneration.

Whatever support the department had got since its setting up in 2001 has now dwindled.

This also applies to the ethical hackers, certified by the e-Commerce Council, the police are seeking.

The money simply isn’t good enough.

Moreover, the plan to train some police personnel exclusively in cyber crime and retain them in this wing without transferring them has also not yielded much results.

Future tense

Now with all jurisdictional police stations empowered to register and investigate cases under IT Act, the situation has further worsened as staff in these stations lack technical as well as basic knowledge of the IT Act.