India, March 12 -- The Government of India issued the following news release:

'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cyber crime and digital arrest scams through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of their LEAs.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes the statistical data on crimes in its publication "Crime in India". The latest published report is for the year 2022. Specific data regarding digital arrest scams is not maintained separately by NCRB.

To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes including digital arrest scams in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include the following:

The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the 'Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre' (I4C) as an attached office to deal with all types of cyber crimes in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. The Central Government has launched a comprehensive awareness programme on digital arrest scams which, inter-alia, include; newspaper advertisement, announcement in Delhi Metros, use of social media influencers to create special posts, campaign through Prasar Bharti and electronic media, special programme on Aakashvani and participated in Raahgiri Function at Connaught Place, New Delhi on 27.11.2024. The Hon'ble Prime Minister spoke about digital arrests during the episode "Mann Ki Baat" on 27.10.2024 and apprised the citizens of India. I4C in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched a caller tune campaign for raising awareness about cybercrime and promoting the Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930 & 'National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal' (NCRP). The caller tune is also being broadcasts in regional languages, delivered 7-8 times a day by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). I4C proactively identify and blocked more than 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 Whatsapp accounts used for Digital Arrest. The Central Government has published a Press Release on Alert against incidents of 'Blackmail' and 'Digital Arrest' by Cyber Criminals Impersonating State/UT Police, NCB, CBI, RBI and other Law Enforcement Agencies. The Central Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have devised a system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers appear to be originating within India. Directions have been issued to the TSPs for blocking of such incoming international spoofed calls. Till 28.02.2025, more than 7.81 lakhs SIM cards and 2,08,469 IMEIs as reported by Police authorities have been blocked by Government of India. The 'National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal'

Hyperlink (https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2110809)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.