Police seek to form dedicated cybercrime unit

Bangladesh Police today (19 April) decided to propose the
formation of a dedicated cyber unit to contain growing digital crimes,
officials said.
"A high-level meeting chaired
by our IGP (inspector general of police) today decided to formally float the
proposal to the prime minister during the upcoming Police Week," an
official familiar with the development told BSS.
He said police headquarters
observed that apart from financial crimes involving banks, the younger women or
girls appeared to be major victims of growing cybercrimes.
The official said different research findings indicated
that three out of every five adolescent girls and young women have experienced
cyberbullying.
But fears of social stigma deter
some 89% victims from lodging complaints, and even those who come up with
complaints, 72% cases remained unresolved or dismissed due to insufficient
evidence.
The past five years of police data
suggest 4,794 cases were filed under the Information and the Pornography
Control Act-2012, the Communication Technology Act-2006, and the Digital
Security Act-2018.
But the absence of a dedicated
cybercrime unit posed a major challenge in ensuring proper investigation and
resolution of these cases.
Police officials said the rapid expansion of internet banking and mobile
financial services created opportunities for criminals to steal money using
ICT.
They also noted online bullying,
distribution of pornographic content using minor girls, website hacks to steal
data, issuance of threats and dissemination of defamatory or false information
as other major cybercrimes.
"The use of social media to
exploit religious sentiments appeared particularly as a major concern in recent
years alongside propaganda against the national interests," one official
said.
The officials said these crimes
were often related to character assassination, blackmail for extortion, and
various forms of digital fraud.
"These concerns lead us to a
conclusion that there is an urgent need to form a specialised cyber police unit
to strengthen our capacities to counter the growing threat of cybercrime in
Bangladesh," a senior official said.
Independent cybersecurity expert
Mohammad Shariat Ullah told BSS that cybercrimes are highly sophisticated
offenses which "require dedicated units manned with properly trained
personnel".
The police's Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) is now mainly entrusted with the task of handling cybercrimes.
















