In the wake of increasing cases of cyber crime the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up cyber crime police stations across 57 districts of the state.

A proposal in this regard was approved by the state cabinet in its meeting held at Lok Bhavan on Tuesday which was chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Giving detail of the proposal approved by the cabinet, Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said that with this decision cyber crime stations will be operational in every district of the state. "At present, cyber crime police stations are operational in all 18 divisions of the state. Till now, an Inspector General level officer used to look after these police stations, but after the setting up of cyber crime stations in all the districts, the Superintendent of Police (SP) level will take charge.

He said that a total of 20 proposals were presented during the cabinet meeting, out of which 19 were approved. The setting up of the cyber police stations is estimated to cost Rs 127 crore.

He said that due to the increasing incidents of cyber crime in the state, there is a pressing need for cyber police stations in all 75 districts.

Khanna said that while cyber crime police stations are already operational in the 18 divisional headquarters, a significant decision has been made to establish such stations in the remaining 57 districts.

"The total expenditure on this is estimated at more than Rs 127. The government is committed to expeditiously working on this, ensuring the prompt setting up of these police stations. This endeavour aims not only to enhance vigilance against cybercrime, but also to enable the effective enforcement of measures against such criminal activities," he said.

Giving information about the current situation of cyber crime in the state, he said that UP is at the top in terms of convictions in cyber crime.

"Our conviction rate is much better than the national average. The national conviction rate in cybercrime cases is 46.5 percent, whereas our conviction rate is 87.8 percent. So far, there have been 838 convictions in the state, whereas Madhya Pradesh, which is in second place, has had only 59 convictions. A total of 7,122 criminal arrests have been made in the state, while 2,582 criminal arrests have been made in Maharashtra. In 2022, 10,117 cyber crime cases were registered in UP," he said.

The districts where the new cyber stations will be set up, include Unnao, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Kanpur Dehat, Etawah, Fatehgarh, Kannauj, Auraiya, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Sultanpur, Barabanki, Amethi, Ambedkar Nagar, Etah, Hathras, Kasganj, Mathura, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli and Maharajganj.

Besides, cuber stations will also be set up in Deoria, Kushinagar, Balrampur, Shravasti, Bahraich, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Rampur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Bhadohi, Mau, Ballia, Siddharthnagar, Sant Kabirnagar, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.

(With UNI inputs)