Maharashtra opens Rs 800 crore hub, to combat cybercrime

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MHADA engineer loses Rs 3 lakh in a digital arrest scam as cybercriminals impersonate TRAI authorities
MHADA engineer loses Rs 3 lakh in a digital arrest scam as cybercriminals impersonate TRAI authorities

More than 150 forensics, technology, and cybercrime specialists will work at the Rs 800-crore cybercrime command and control centre that Maharashtra unveiled on Friday to safeguard the 130 million people living in the state from online fraud.

Built by L&T Technology Services (LTTS) for the Maharashtra State Cyber Department, the Navi Mumbai facility will act as a central hub for addressing cybercrime complaints from 50 districts.

Starting on October 15, businesses and people can file complaints by calling the helpline at 14407.

The centre was opened by Devendra Phadnavis, the state deputy chief minister.

“This is the largest and one-of-its-kind cyber command centre, which will integrate all silos into a comprehensive, end-to-end technology solution aimed at reducing response time to cybercrime,” Yashasvi Yadav, special inspector general of police, Maharashtra cyber department, told the media.

“We have hugely invested in 50 global forensic technologies, 17 threat intelligence tools, and 13 cybersecurity tools leveraging AI and blockchain technologies,” he said. “Be it malware analysis, deepfake detection, cryptocurrency frauds, banking scams, eSIM swaps, we are equipped to address everything under one roof.”

Yadav said the situation of cybercrime is grave and has evolved into an organised syndicate. Revenues from cybercrime globally were $6 trillion a year—twice the economy of India, he said. “Two years back in Jamtara, which is the hub of cybercrime activity in India, a helicopter was bought.”

Technology plays a key role in combating cybercrime, according to LTTS executive director Abhishek Sinha, and the organisation is in talks with other state governments to duplicate a facility similar to this one.

According to Yadav, the Maharashtra cyber agency is putting more effort into raising awareness of modern cybercrimes, including virtual kidnapping and digital arrest.

“It is a boundaryless crime, and I encourage every single state cyber security department to derive strength from a project like this,” he said.

The project was first passed by the Maharashtra assembly in 2018. “At that time the investment outlay had shot up to Rs 2,000 crore,” Yadav said. It picked up pace only in March 2024, when the tender was awarded to LTTS.

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