Bhubaneswar: To bolster its fight against digital offences, the govt has formally formed the state cyber crime coordination centre (S4C) within Odisha police.The home department notified the creation of S4C on Aug 10, acting on a proposal submitted by former DGP Y B Khurania in July last year. Initially planned as the Odisha cyber command centre (O3C), the unit was renamed following a directive from the Union ministry of home affairs, which wanted state centres to be modelled on the Indian cyber crime coordination centre (I4C).“The S4C is envisioned as a centralised and specialised institutional mechanism to coordinate all matters relating to cybercrime,” said a senior police officer.The govt has clarified that the detailed organisational structure, staffing, infrastructure, and allocation of functions within the S4C would be notified separately.“The mandate of the S4C covers prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution support, and coordinated response to cybercrime incidents across the state. The centre will also serve as the nodal authority for liaison with the I4C in New Delhi and other stakeholders, ensuring seamless information/intelligence sharing and rapid response to emerging threats,” said the notification.According to the order, the S4C will function under the overall supervision of the director-general, CID-crime branch. The inspector-general of police of the CID-crime branch has been designated as the head of S4C with immediate effect. The head will act as the state-level nodal officer for coordination with the Centre and for interfacing with district police units, cyber police stations, prosecution authorities, forensic labs, banks, telecom service providers, and intermediaries.The functions of the S4C include cybercrime prevention and detection across districts, trend analysis and hotspot mapping to identify emerging threats, capacity building and awareness initiatives for police and citizens, complaint handling via national portal and cyber crime helpline 1930, coordination with I4C on advisories, alerts, and inter-state matters.The head of S4C has been authorised to call for reports, statistics, and case-related inputs from all district police units and cyber stations to ensure effective monitoring. The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissioner of police, deputy commissioners of the twin cities, superintendents of police in districts, and heads of police units have been directed to extend full cooperation to the S4C and comply with directions issued by police headquarters.Officials said the centre would play a crucial role in tackling rising cyber frauds, online financial crimes, and digital threats in Odisha. “This institutional mechanism will ensure faster response and better coordination across agencies,” said a senior officer.
