A group of 20 police officers drawn from four police districts will serve as resource persons in investigations into financial crimes, especially those related to the banking sector, in the Ernakulam range henceforth.
Police personnel with academic qualifications relating to financial affairs and aptitude to delve deep into financial crimes were given a five-day extensive training in cracking financial and banking crimes at the Ernakulam district police headquarters in Aluva on the direction of Ernakulam Range Deputy Inspector General Neeraj Kumar Gupta. Participants were selected from Ernakulam Rural, Kottayam, Idukki and Alapuzha districts.
The initiative was taken in the wake of surging financial crimes, with financial transactions turning digital by the day and the advent of multiple payment gateways. Officials from the State Bank of India led the training sessions.
“The trained police personnel will serve as master trainers for training the 8,000-odd cops in all four districts in the future and will form the backbone of investigations into financial crimes and even NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) cases where payments are made digitally. The training focused on collection of maximum possible information about financial frauds, agencies and contact persons to be approached, and how to meaningfully use all that information in the investigation,” said K. Karthik, District Police Chief, (Ernakulam Rural).
Online financial transactions have registered a quantum jump since the outbreak of the pandemic expanding the user base beyond the relatively privileged lot in the past. Along with that has increased the volume of financial frauds.
“The training was very helpful, as it expanded the horizon of the investigation into banking frauds beyond approaching the manager of the nearest branch of the bank concerned. We now know a host of agencies to approach in the event of such crimes. It also introduced us to digital currencies and frauds involving them. In short, we have been equipped to collect all requisite intelligence that will help investigation officers probing such crimes,” said a civil police officer who participated in the training on condition of anonymity.
Published - April 13, 2022 10:14 pm IST
