Police seek to form dedicated cybercrime unit

Bangladesh Police today (19 April) decided to propose the formation of a dedicated cyber unit to contain growing digital crimes, officials said.

"A high-level meeting chaired by our IGP (inspector general of police) today decided to formally float the proposal to the prime minister during the upcoming Police Week," an official familiar with the development told BSS.

He said police headquarters observed that apart from financial crimes involving banks, the younger women or girls appeared to be major victims of growing cybercrimes.

The official said different research findings indicated that three out of every five adolescent girls and young women have experienced cyberbullying. 

But fears of social stigma deter some 89% victims from lodging complaints, and even those who come up with complaints, 72% cases remained unresolved or dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

The past five years of police data suggest 4,794 cases were filed under the Information and the Pornography Control Act-2012, the Communication Technology Act-2006, and the Digital Security Act-2018.

But the absence of a dedicated cybercrime unit posed a major challenge in ensuring proper investigation and resolution of these cases.

Police officials said the rapid expansion of internet banking and mobile financial services created opportunities for criminals to steal money using ICT.

They also noted online bullying, distribution of pornographic content using minor girls, website hacks to steal data, issuance of threats and dissemination of defamatory or false information as other major cybercrimes.

"The use of social media to exploit religious sentiments appeared particularly as a major concern in recent years alongside propaganda against the national interests," one official said. 

The officials said these crimes were often related to character assassination, blackmail for extortion, and various forms of digital fraud.

"These concerns lead us to a conclusion that there is an urgent need to form a specialised cyber police unit to strengthen our capacities to counter the growing threat of cybercrime in Bangladesh," a senior official said.

Independent cybersecurity expert Mohammad Shariat Ullah told BSS that cybercrimes are highly sophisticated offenses which "require dedicated units manned with properly trained personnel".

The police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is now mainly entrusted with the task of handling cybercrimes.