Bhubaneswar, Sept. 9: There has been enormous delay in setting up the proposed cyber police station here though the state has witnessed a 211 per cent rise in cyber crime in 2015.

Data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that 386 cyber crime cases were registered in 2015 as compared to 124 in 2014.

The state has been placed ninth in terms of total registration of cyber offences in the country. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 2,208 complaints, while there are no reports of cyber crime from Nagaland.

In 2013, a patch of land measuring 6,000sqft was initially identified near the police reserve line near Jayadev Vihar for setting up a police station with modern equipment to exclusively deal with cyber crime cases. With legal hurdles coming in the way, the authorities were forced to seek another plot. The state government had sanctioned Rs 1.25 crore for this purpose.

The only existing cyber police station that functions under the state crime branch in Cuttack was set up in 2006 and it currently has an all-Odisha jurisdiction. The proposed cyber police station in Bhubaneswar, to function under the crime branch, too will have an all-Odisha jurisdiction. On April 20 this year, the official website of Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC), www.ossc.gov.in, was hacked by some people who claimed to be members of Philippine Cyber Syndicate. The OSSC is a government recruitment agency functioning under the general administration department. On January 15, the official website of the Odisha University of Agriculture, www.ouat.ac.in, was allegedly hacked by a hacker identifying himself as "Don".

Police officials said there was an urgent need of a cyber police station in Bhubaneswar.

"We receive around 40 cyber crime cases every year in Bhubaneswar. While serious cases are being transferred to the cyber police station in Cuttack, cyber fraud cases are being dealt with by the police stations concerned in Bhubaneswar. But investigation of cyber crimes is a specialised job and a dedicated police station is need of the hour," said a senior police officer.

Crime branch officials said the land identification process was under way.

"We have been imparting specialised training to officials of police stations. The programme involves several aspect of cyber crime such as seizure and collection of digital evidence, forensic imaging, packaging of digital evidence and questionnaire for examination," said a crime branch official.