Pranksters and those misusing internet for subversive activities besides sending undesirable e-mails in a bid to create panic in society are in for trouble. The city would soon be equipped with an e-mail surveillance gadget through which the cops would be able to pinpoint the person who indulges in such mischief through the internet.
Evidence of frequent use of e-mails by terrorists reportedly involved in the Mumbai blasts has put cops here on the alert. This was followed by a number of hoax e-mails which kept security agencies on their toes causing considerable waste of time and money.
Till now internet tracer facility had been confined to a handful of big cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Banglore including the state capital Lucknow. But looking at the speed at which terrorists had been trying to keep their operations under cover by using coded language while sending e-mails to their counterparts for carrying out blasts and informations about their success in a particular operation the cops here too have decided to update themselves in a bid to stall the mischief makers' evil designs and nab them.
The DIG, Allahabad range, Akhilesh Mehrotra has shot off letters to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Reliance the two big e-mail service providers to send him the names of persons who were hooked to their lines. A scheme to have the list of all internet users including individuals will be made under each police station. All e-mails coming to the city and sent to other destinations from here would be under surveillance. Though cops have no plans to invade into the privacy of individuals but they would certainly not hesitate in doing so in case they come across anything they find dubious.
{{/usCountry}}The DIG, Allahabad range, Akhilesh Mehrotra has shot off letters to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Reliance the two big e-mail service providers to send him the names of persons who were hooked to their lines. A scheme to have the list of all internet users including individuals will be made under each police station. All e-mails coming to the city and sent to other destinations from here would be under surveillance. Though cops have no plans to invade into the privacy of individuals but they would certainly not hesitate in doing so in case they come across anything they find dubious.
{{/usCountry}}The e-mail surveillance system is likely to be installed at the office of the DIG and all monitoring would be done through a separate cell, said the officer while talking to HT Allahabad Live.
He said after some time a list of suspicious persons would be made separately and cops would keep a track on their movements. Deletion of the message after sending it by the user would also not help as the same would get stored in this tracer, he informed.
Cyber cafes and internet huts will be required to record the identity of the user and there are chances that the person who uses the internet from such places will first have to produce evidence of his identity. It could be any thing from PAN card to driving licence.
This would make the system foolproof and no body would be able to escape after misusing the internet from any cyber cafe.
Circle officer Rajeshwar Singh who is an expert in cyber crime said in bigger cities it is easier to reach a cyber cafe from where the internet gets misused because cops have a list of all those having internet facility but the same is not available in this city till now.
Controlling cyber crime and nabbing terrorists would be a lot easier once we are equipped with the modern gizmo, he added.