Srinagar, Sep 18: In a world where a bank account can be emptied with a few clicks, the Jammu & Kashmir Police has rolled out a dedicated mechanism to make its response to cybercrime faster, more specialised and better coordinated.
The new system under the Jammu and Kashmir Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (JK4C) and JK1C will focus on handling cybercrime complaints, investigating digital offences and coordinating with banks and other agencies in cases involving financial fraud.
SSP Crime Yaseen Kichloo, addressing a press conference here, said the dedicated arrangement had been created to ensure that cybercrime complaints are dealt with through a specialised mechanism rather than being treated as conventional crimes.
The framework will have three specialised wings—Cyber Investigation Wing, Cyber Operations Wing and the Online Crimes Against Children and Women (OCWC) Wing.
The move assumes significance as cyber fraud has increasingly become a race against time. Once money is transferred from a victim’s account, it can quickly move through multiple accounts, making immediate reporting critical.
Kichloo urged people who fall victim to online financial fraud to immediately dial 1930 or lodge a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
The officer said timely reporting gives the police and banking system an opportunity to trace suspicious transactions and initiate measures for freezing funds before they are moved further.
The new mechanism will also strengthen coordination between the police and financial institutions. Police officials will work with banks to examine suspicious transactions and initiate account-freezing measures wherever required.
The system is also expected to facilitate examination of cases where bank accounts have been frozen following cybercrime investigations.
Kichloo said that where investigations establish that there are insufficient grounds for continuing a freeze, the process for unfreezing the account would be initiated as per the prescribed procedure.
The police said that cases involving sufficient grounds for criminal action would be taken forward through registration of FIRs and investigation under law.
Technology is also becoming a central part of the fight against digital crime.
According to the SSP, banks are using artificial intelligence and pattern-based analysis to identify suspicious transactions, while the police are coordinating with the Department of Telecommunications, the Reserve Bank of India and banking institutions to strengthen the response mechanism.
The new arrangement is not confined to financial fraud.
The dedicated OCWC wing will deal specifically with online crimes against women and children, with the mechanism also providing victim-oriented assistance and counselling.
The establishment of JK4C follows the J&K Government’s decision earlier this year to create a dedicated cybercrime coordination structure under the overall control of the Director General of Police. Nalin Prabhat
The framework brings greater coordination among specialised cybercrime units and district-level cyber police stations, with JK4C intended to function as the Union Territory’s nodal cybercrime agency and coordinate with the Union Government’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.
For ordinary users, however, the most important message from the police is simple–do not wait after losing money online.
“A victim who notices an unauthorised transaction, falls for an investment scam, shares banking credentials with a fraudster or is tricked into transferring money should report the incident immediately,” the SSP said.
He said the first few minutes can be crucial in tracing the transaction and attempting to prevent the money from being withdrawn or transferred further.
As cyber criminals become increasingly sophisticated, the police response is also moving towards specialised investigation, real-time coordination and technology-driven detection.
