Curbing cyber crimes, drug abuse among new Kochi commissioner’s priorities

Kochi: Addressing Kochi’s increasing traffic woes and curbing the drug menace are among the priorities set by IPS officer Putta Vimaladitya, who recently took charge as the new commissioner of Kochi City.

The officer in the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) will also focus on resolving the on-the-rise cyber crimes. Vimaladitya listed his priorities at a Meet the Press organised by the Ernakulam Press Club on Tuesday. He also mentioned traffic woes and anti-social activities as concerns that need to be addressed.

“Cyber crimes have been on the rise, and ordinary people who are not very familiar with internet usage fall prey to scamsters easily. How to resolve this issue is among my priorities,” the officer said. He said the focus would be on enforcement and education.

“Awareness has to be created among multiple sections of people on the modus operandi of the scamsters and how they make people their victims. Proper registration of cases and investigation will be conducted. Also, a system to retrieve the money lost to the dupers has to be implemented,” he added.

He said the investigation into cyber crimes remains a challenge due to the involvement of multiple states and agencies. “The scamsters often use SIM cards, bank accounts and communication apps to commit the crimes. We need to get information from the three agencies (banks, telecom operators and app companies) to zero in on the culprits. We have to devise new investigation strategies to overcome such challenges,” he said. He said strengthening inter-state coordination is a must to tackle cyber crimes.

The officer warned against posting personal data, including photos, on social media and installing unsafe phone applications. Vimaladitya said that a mapping of repeated offenders will be done upon reining in the drug peddlers.

He cited the registration of 27 cases of seizing contraband drugs in commercial quantities as an example of the effective steps the Kochi police have already been taking to tackle the drug menace in the city.

Putta Vimaladitya also holds the additional charge as DIG, Anti Terrorist Squad, said no armed Maoist militants are hiding in the state now. However, he said it cannot be said that the ultra-left activities have been eradicated with the arrest of the militants.

He said urban-centric Maoist activities will be tracked and traced. Vimaladitya, a 2008 Kerala cadre officer, took charge from S Syamsundar IPS, who has been transferred as the Inspector General (IG), South Zone.