India to get first ‘cyber’ police station

BANGALORE: India's first police station to exclusively handle cyber crimes
such as computer hacking, data damage and Internet fraud will start work in
Bangalore on September 15, police said on Friday.

The station, which would cover the entire Karnataka, was launched on
Thursday, a senior police official told Reuters. The station, which would cover
crimes under India's information technology law passed last year, was aimed at
taking quick action on solving cyber crimes, taking the burden from local
police.

Local police stations would continue to register cyberspace crimes and would
also carry out searches. The Cyber Crime Police Station (CCPS) has set up a Web
site for complaints (http://ccps.karnatakastatepolice.org).

India, joining a handful of nations, last year passed the cyber law that
covers a wide range of issues, from the potential of electronic commerce to the
possible threats posed by too much policing of Internet.

Law and order are state-level subjects under India's constitution, and is
governed by the provincial administration. Karnataka had set up in 1999 a cyber
crime cell with experts called in from leading Bangalore software firms Wipro
Ltd and Infosys Technologies and the Indian Institute of Science. "The same
cell has now been given the status of a police station," said the official.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.