Director-General of Police Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao highlighted an increasing role of cybercriminals in other forms of seemingly unrelated criminal activities such as drug peddling and violence against women and children.
In a mammoth outreach programme at SPMVV Indira Priyadarshini auditorium here on Monday, the Tirupati police organised an awareness meet against cybercrime, in which 60,000 students from 900 schools and colleges from across the district connected through videoconference and listened to the safety tips provided by Mr. Tirumala Rao, who, too, had a virtual login.
Highlighting the need to create a safe and secure virtual space, he appealed to girls and women to stay away from potential danger zones such as online stalkers, strangers making video calls, downloading unnecessary mobile apps, sharing personal details and images on social media platforms, etc.
Mr. Rao announced that Cyber police stations would soon be established in every district to tackle the menace. He also said that it was “excessive greed” that made gullible netizens fall prey to online fraudsters and losing their hard-earned money.
Responding to the growing crime against children, the DGP said the government had taken serious note of the increasing rape and violent attacks on children. “We will soon have special courts to exclusively try such cases”, he added.
Collector S. Venkateswar called for the conduct of such meetings to explain to the youth the intricacies needed to deal with the cyber world. “It is not ignorance that leads to cybercrime, but the general lack of awareness in tune with the rising criminal tendencies,” he said, pointing out that a chunk of the victims were girls pursuing studies from VIII standard to undergraduate education.
Superintendent of Police L. Subbarayudu called upon parents to safeguard their daughters and be wary of neighbours and relatives with an “evil intent”. He called the rampant drug menace as a possible reason for some people going wayward. Cyber security expert I.L. Narasimha Rao spoke.
SPMVV vice-chancellor in-charge V. Uma and registrar N. Rajani thanked the police department for the initiative. Additional superintendents J. Venkat Rao (admin) and Ravi Manoharachary (Tirupati) took part.
Published - November 11, 2024 07:15 pm IST
