Gujarat CID Crime has launched a massive drive to expedite the refund of money to victims of cybercrime across the state. The initiative aims to prioritise cases of the past six months and present them before a national-level Lok Adalat scheduled for June 22.
The CID Crime has directed all city police commissioners, range heads, and police superintendents, as well as their subordinate officers, to personally contact victims and file necessary reports.
As per information available, a total of 1.34 lakh applications by the victims of cybercrime are pending across the state’s urban and rural centres. These cases involve a staggering ₹155.70 cr that has been frozen or blocked.
Of the total 2.04 lakh cybercrime tickets (complaints) registered across the state’s 38 districts, more than half are pending. While police stations have completed investigations in 70,242 cases, 39,645 cases have been pending for over nine months. These cases involving victims of cybercrime for over nine months will be prioritised and resolved expeditiously.
Regarding the arrangement, chairman of the finance committee of the Gujarat Bar Council, Anil C Kella, stated, “Lawyers should also be involved in this entire process to ensure there are no legal complications or issues in the future.”
Ahmedabad leads in cybercrime cases
Ahmedabad tops the list in cybercrime, with 50,570 registered cases, of which 35,822 are pending. Police have resolved investigations in 14,748 cases, with 70.84% cases pending. As many as 12,959 cases fit under the ‘over nine months’ criteria for the police programme.
Surat stands second with 27,173 tickets, followed by Vadodara with 15,735, and Rajkot with 11,739 cases.
The state CID crime has instructed all police commissioners, range heads, and superintendents in all cities, ranges, and districts of Gujarat to provide necessary training to officers and staff involved in processing refunds and to update the daily progress on the official portal.