Bhubaneswar, Oct. 31: Cyber crimes in the state have increased in the last two years, but the number of arrests has dipped, a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed.

According to the report, the number of cyber crimes reported stood at 124 in 2014 as against 104 in 2013. However, police arrested only 17 people in 2014 as against 62 in 2013. Only 27 cyber crime cases (both under Information and Technology Act and sections of the IPC) were recorded in Odisha in 2012.

Police sources said that the abysmal rate of detection of cyber crimes was owing to the lack of expertise of the police. "The IT sector is witnessing massive changes in recent times but cops still use old and outdated technology while investigating cyber crimes.

The police need to change and keep themselves updated about the latest technology being used," said a police official.

Senior police officer Binoy Kumar Behera, during a workshop on cyber crime awareness at the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy here last month, had said that the present infrastructure was not sufficient to tackle various forms of cyber crimes in the state.

"Cyber crime has become very advanced and the police need to keep themselves updated to investigate such cases. The police need to educate themselves to crack such cases. We are planning to include cyber crime in our training programme, which would create a pool of police officials who can deal with such cases," Behera had said.

So far, most cases being lodged with the police are related to fraud cases, offensive emails or pornographic material being uploaded on the Net.

In one significant case last year, the cyber cell of the crime branch had arrested a youth in Cuttack for allegedly creating a fake Facebook account in a girl's name and posting objectionable photographs.

The accused, Rajaram Biswal, had befriended the girl on the social networking site and proposed her for marriage. However, he turned vindictive after she turned down his marriage proposal.

The only existing cyber police station, which functions under the state crime branch, is in Cuttack. Set up in 2006, the cyber police station, which functions from the police headquarters, has statewide jurisdiction. A proposal to set up another cyber police station in Bhubaneswar is yet to materialise due to land related problems.

Director General of Police Sanjeev Marik also admitted that the present infrastructure of the police was not sufficient to deal with cyber crimes in the state. "Currently, we have only one cyber police station in Cuttack, which is not sufficient to tackle such crimes. We have proposed four other cyber police stations in the state, including one in Bhubaneswar," said Marik.

The police said that a cyber forensic laboratory with updated technologies needed be set up in the state to detect computer crimes. "The police should conduct frequent workshops to train officials in new technologies being adopted in other metros such as Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore," said a senior police official.

Experts said that the police needed to constitute a team of specially trained officers on the model of Cybercops of Andhra Pradesh police.

"Most police stations in the state now direct the complainants to lodge a case with the cyber police station in Cuttack. This is a huge problem for the people who want to lodge complaints with the police. All police stations should be directed to lodge cyber crime cases. Also, we need more cyber police stations in the state," said Sweety Samantray, an IT expert.