A week-long statewide operation by the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) and the state cyber cell has resulted in 238 FIRs and the arrest of 15 people for suspected involvement in cybercrime, officials said on Thursday.
Under Operation Hotspot, conducted from Aug 24 to Sept 1, police verified 820 suspicious bank accounts, 1,236 ATM withdrawal locations and 84 cheque withdrawal locations. Authorities also blocked 644 SIM cards and the IMEI numbers of 630 mobile phones allegedly linked to cybercrimes.
ADG (Law and Order) V Murugesan said, “Police also mapped 240 previously arrested criminals through central govt platforms and found their involvement in more than 100 other cybercrime cases.”
Of the 238 FIRs registered, 159 were filed after verification of suspicious bank accounts. Another 32 FIRs followed checks of ATM withdrawal locations, while 37 were registered after verification of cheque withdrawal locations. Police also filed 10 FIRs after checking 22 SIM point-of-sale machines.
“Those SIM cards were blocked. Along with them, police also blocked IMEI numbers of 630 mobile phones. During the same time, 15 cyber criminals were arrested while 247 suspects were served legal notices to reply to the summons over their suspected involvement in cyber crimes,” said the ADG.
Before Operation Hotspot, the STF had conducted a month-long cybersecurity campaign from July 1 to 31. During the campaign, police teams carried out technical analysis of digital, telecom and financial indicators linked to cybercrime.
“We will continue to take similar action in the future,” said Murugesan.
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