Bhubaneswar, Dec. 26: Delay in land allotment has emerged as a major hurdle in setting up of a cyber police station in the city.
Though a 6,000sqft plot was initially identified near police reserve line near Jayadev Vihar for the purpose, legal hurdles came in the way.
Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Limited has been entrusted with the job of building the police station. Officials in the corporation have been writing several letters to the director-general of police for past two months to provide an alternative patch.
At present, the state has only one cyber police station, functioning under the crime branch in Cuttack. The proposed police station in Bhubaneswar would also function under the crime branch having an all-Odisha jurisdiction.
The corporation has already awarded the tender and waiting for alternative land. “Once we get the land, construction would be over in 12 months. The police station would be a three-storey building with all facilities,” said chairman-cum-managing director of the corporation Satyajit Mohanty. The state government has sanctioned Rs 1.25 crore for the purpose.
With cyber crimes such as credit card frauds, pornography and cyber defamation taking place regularly, the city badly needs a cyber police station, as complainants often find it difficult to lodge their complaints in the cyber police station in Cuttack.
“With advance in technology, the residents are vulnerable to cyber crimes. But, it is always not possible to travel 30km and register a complaint. The city desperately needs a cyber police station,” said Sukesh Behera, who lives in Bhubaneswar.
The Cuttack cyber police station, which had almost been lying defunct after being established on October 2, 2006, lodged only one case each in 2009, 2010 and 2011. However, the number of cases related to cyber crime increased thereafter. In May, the corporation had signed an MoU with the state home department to carry out various construction projects, which included jails and courts, police stations worth Rs 315 crore in 2013-14, and construction of the cyber police station in Bhubaneswar was a part of this.
