The Calcutta Police cell set up around seven months ago to deal exclusively with cyber crimes does not have a single computer.

?The cyber cell exists only on paper,? an officer at Lalbazar said on Sunday. ?How can one work without the basic infrastructure, like computers? Besides, there are no specialised officers to investigate cyber cases.?

The cell comprises an officer-in-charge and two sub-inspectors. The sub-inspectors do not have any basic knowledge of computers and are mostly deployed for law-and- order duty. ?It?s not their fault. They should have been trained before being transferred to the cell,? the officer added.

Deputy commissioner (detective department) Gyanwant Singh admitted that the cyber cell is functioning without a computer. ?The computers in the IT unit of the headquarters are used for probing cyber crimes. The cyber cell will soon have its own computers.?

Over the past few months, the cell has been flooded with complaints of cyber-law violations, but not a single case has been cracked.

?There has not been a single detection. Soon after the cell was set up, people came in hordes to register complaints. But things have come to such a pass that we have stopped receiving complaints,? the officer said.

According to him, the cell has received a large number of complaints about hacking sites and sending pornographic mail. In the past month, three city-based companies complained that information from their database was stolen and supplied to their competitors.

?A preliminary probe revealed that some insiders are involved, but we have not been able to identify any individual. We are working with Webel to track down cyber criminals,? he added.

Joint commissioner (administration) Kuldiep Singh said 25 computers were allotted to the detective department last year. ?I don?t know why not one has been allotted to the cyber cell.?