The district police formed a dedicated cell on Thursday to counter the spread of hate messages on various social media platforms. The step was said to have been taken in view of the impending Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.
“We have formed the District Cyber Crime Cell that comprises two units namely, Cyber Crime Investigation Team(CCIT) and Cyber Crime support team, to prevent cyber crime and (take) immediate action against the perpetrators,” said senior superintendent of police, Lucknow, Kalanidhi Naithani.
Each cell will have an inspector, a sub-Inspector and three constables. “The team will especially focus, round the clock, on incidents and attempts to spread hatred on the social media that could lead to any serious incident,” the SSP said.
“The team will also investigate matters linked with fake online handles, website defacement, online lottery fraud and data theft,” he added.
At the district level, the cell will be headed by in charge of the district cyber cell or the SP crime.
Commenting on the need for forming such teams, the SSP said, “Investigation of online fraud is very complex and in most cases involves people from outside districts or even the state. So the need for a dedicated cyber crime team was felt which can focus solely on incidents of cyber crime.”
{{/usCountry}}Commenting on the need for forming such teams, the SSP said, “Investigation of online fraud is very complex and in most cases involves people from outside districts or even the state. So the need for a dedicated cyber crime team was felt which can focus solely on incidents of cyber crime.”
{{/usCountry}}The officials of the team will co-ordinate with district level team and will provide technological support at local police station levels. The team members will also be tasked with curtailing the spread of fake information online. “The team members will remain in touch with the public, schools and colleges and will inform them about rumours,” the officer said.