Cyber law "Cyber Cell" – An Innovative Project of ‘Pune Police’
(for prevention, control and investigation of cyber crime)

Introduction
We are all aware that cyber crime has made a new entry over the last few years into the list of various crimes committed by the individuals and organizations. This crime is spreading fast into the society just like a computer virus into the network of computer systems. Eventhough this is relatively a new crime, the growth rate of the cyber crime is very high. The adverse effects of the cyber crime are already being felt by users of mobiles, credit cards, internet etc., government and semigovernment organizations, corporate organizations, banking sector, insurance sector, hotel management industry, travel and tourism industry etc.
There appears to be no limit to the range and scope of cyber crime. Therefore, it has become necessary to prevent and control the cyber crime at all levels. It is also necessary to develop professional competence of the police staff to speedily investigate the cyber crime and file the cases before the court of law for early justice to the victims and punishment to the culprits.
Cyber Cell – A New Initiative of ‘Pune Police’:
Realizing the serious threat to the security and peaceful life of the society at large, Pune Police established a Cyber Cell in 2005 when the cyber crime had just started showing its dragon effects. The Cyber Laboratory was established in 2006 at Shivajinagar, Pune by the State Government of Maharashtra in collaboration with some leading IT industries in and ground Pune. The inauguration of the Cyber Laboratory was done at the hands of Hon’ble R.R. Patil, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in presence of Dr. Passricha, DIG of Police, Mumbai and Shri D.N. Jadhav, the then Commissioner of Police of Pune. There are large number of IT and IT related service industries as well as many software companies at Pune. As we all know, Pune is a major IT hub in India, Therefore, Cyber Cell is playing a major role in creating public awareness about the cyber crime, cyber safety and enabling the Pune Police for effective crime investigation.
It was realized by Pune Police that some kind of common platform is required to fight the cyber crime in all ways i.e. to protect, to control and to investigate. In fact, IT and IT enabled Services Association (IIA), Pune made a suggestion in 2006 to this effect to the Commission of Police, Pune. As a result, such a common platform came into existence in 2007 in the form of ‘ Cyber Committe ’. It was thus the initiative of Pune Police taken in collaboration with IIA. IT and ITeS Association is the Chief Advisor and the Coordinator of Cyber Committee. The Commissioner of Police, Pune is the ex-officio President of the Cyber Committee. Representatives of prominent IT and software industries in and around Pune are the members of the Cyber Committee. (The composition of the Cyber Committee is enclosed alongwith).
The working of the Cyber Committee and its activities:
The Cyber Committee normally meets once a month. The attendance of the members for the meeting is very good. All the members show keen interest and involvement in the activities of Cyber Committee. They treat this as an important social duty and give their professional expertise for the effective working of Cyber Committee. The main objectives of the committee are:
1.To create public awareness about the cyber safety
2.To control the cyber crime
3.To develop professional competence of the police staff to investigate the Cyber Crime.
Broadbased public awareness about the cyber crime and cyber safety is a major challenge. Cyber Committee is taking steps to educate young students in the schools and colleges, bank customers, cafe owners / operators, senior citizens, housewives etc. in regard to the cyber crime and cyber safety.
Cyber Crime at Pune – Current Scenario:
There are large no. of crime cases that take place at the level of individuals or organizations. But not many cases are actually reported, for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that the individuals or organizations feel that their daily working will get seriously affected if the complaint about cyber crime is lodged before the police. They are also afraid that they may face problems during the police enquiry and the legal proceedings because of certain lacunas on their part. They are afraid of harassment and loss of man hours and computer hours during the investigation. The serious damage to the public image of the individual or the organization and possible heavy loss in the business are the other deterrent factors in filing of the crime case before the police.
Police Department, therefore, has to do lot of work at all levels, so that people can file the cyber crime cases with confidence of getting early justice. Cyber Committee is, therefore, playing a major role in this regard. It is significant to note that till now around 1500 police officers have undergone training on cyber crime and cyber safety. Some programs on cyber safety are already conducted for college students.
Action plan for the activities to be conducted in near future is prepared. The members of the Cyber Committee recently visited Reliance Infocily city as Vashi (Mumbai) to get the first hand information on the new technologies in the field of communication, date transfer, data storage, safety and security of the information etc.
It is hoped that the Pune Model of the work on the cyber safety and investigation will be implemented elsewhere in Maharashtra in the coming year.
Cyber Cell also plans to bring out manuals of ‘Dos and Do nots’ for various groups of people regarding cyber crime.
It is significant to note that the first conviction in India of the accused in the cyber crime was on a crime case filed by Pune Police. This is mainly because of the good work of the police staff and the support and guidance of the Cyber Committee and Cyber Cell.
It is, therefore, felt that the ‘ Cyber Cell ’ is a very innovative project. The work of the Cyber Cell is a pioneering one. It shows great promise in controlling the cyber crime and making the investigating process fast and effective.
IIA, therefore, strongly recommends that the ‘Cyber Cell’ of Pune Police for the prestigeous ‘Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration’.