The lockdown has certainly kept everyone, from celebrities to the common man indoors, but it is emerging that cyber criminals have taken advantage of it, spreading panic and indulging in rumour mongering besides stalking innocent women.
Within just seven days of launching a mobile WhatsApp helpline, the Crime Investigative Department of the AP Police has received 7,129 messages (12 pm, April 22), 1,029 voice calls, and a vast number of them relate to defamatory content with strident requests for action. Police have identified 84 complaints fit for registration of cases under various provisions of the IT Act and IPC.
Deletion requests
The posts are varied, some of them are obscene, some are against the government, some are communal in nature and some are just defamatory and abusive. Police have been sending deletion requests, and adding the names of cyber criminals to the list of suspects on the watch list.
The overwhelming response to ‘Staysafe Staysmart’ mobile-based helpline launched by the CID is helping the police aggressively trace the stalkers, and take action. A simple message to WhatsApp number 90716-66667, is all that the police need, to pin down the culprits, name them and act against them. The sender gets a unique reference number which he/she can use to check the status of their complaint on the app.
“Cyber stalking has become a menace. Be assured, and safe, as cyber bullies are being tracked and their online activity is under the invisible eye of the AP Police. If a post on any social media handle is defamatory and bordering on infringing on personal dignity attracting provisions of IPC and the IT Act, people can send a message on WhatsApp. Police talk to the complainant over the phone and after a check, send the details of the complaint for a police station in their area for further action. A dedicated team of 15 members is working round the clock and monitoring the helpline. We are also adding a mobile app and a dashboard to this mobile app,’’ Additional Director-General, CID, P.V Sunil Kumar told The Hindu on Wednesday.
The action proposed to be taken is also posted on the APCID Twitter handle- https://twitter.com/APCID9071666667.
