Staff crunch mars CEN police station in Mysuru

MYSURU: Cases of phishing are on the rise as the district witnessed two such cases in the last two weeks.
Two bank customers have fallen prey to cybercriminals who withdrew their money from ATMs located in faraway places. But the district Cybercrime, Economic offences, and Narcotics (CEN) police station, which registers and investigates the cases related to cyber frauds, is facing severe staff crunch.
The district CEN police station has just eight personnel who are working without most of the modern facilities, including internet, to crack the cybercrime cases. Meanwhile, IGP (Southern Range) K V Sharath Chandra confirmed the staff shortage in CEN stations and assured that steps will be taken to solve the problem.
According to sources in state police, Mysuru CEN station presently has an inspector, four head constables and three constables. What has made the situation worse is that many a times the staff are deputed for works like VVIP security in other parts of the state. “Cracking the cybercrime cases is not an easy task. Police need to track them every minute. But the staff of this station are often sent for VVIP security, which has nothing do with cybercrime,” said a source.
‘No internet’
According to sources privy to the style of functioning of CEN police stations across the state, the Mysuru station doesn’t even have an internet connection, which is crucial for information sharing and gathering.
But SP Amit Singh denied the allegation and stated that internet facility is available.
According to sources, the incidents of phishing are increasing across the district, especially in rural areas where many ATMs lack proper security. “Whenever a phishing or cybercrime is reported, local Law and Order police send the complaint to the CEN station in Mysuru. The victims need to come all the way from their villages to get the updates or share crucial information. Due to shortage of staff, CEN police are not able to visit the crime scenes and collect crucial proofs which can help them to track the criminals,” explained the source.
When contacted, IGP (Southern Range) K V Sharath Chandra confirmed that CEN stations are facing staff shortage. “We are deputing inspectors who are interested in cybercrime investigation to these stations. There is need of more investigating officers,” he said. “We will look into the problem,” he added.