Govt announces dedicated Cyber Police Unit to contain digital crimes

The government has announced plans to establish a dedicated Cyber Police Unit to contain the rising trend of digital crimes, following a proposal submitted by Bangladesh Police.

Highlighting the evolving nature of crime in the digital age, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Monday announced the formation of a specialised Cyber Police Unit to combat cybercrime, online rumours and misinformation spread through social media platforms.

Bangladesh Police formally placed the proposal before Prime Minister Tarique Rahman during the inaugural ceremony of Police Week on Sunday.

Police headquarters observed that, apart from financial crimes involving banks, young women and girls are emerging as the major victims of growing cybercrime.

Different research findings indicate that three out of every five adolescent girls and young women have experienced cyberbullying.

However, fear of social stigma prevents about 89% of victims from lodging complaints. Even among those who do file complaints, around 72% of cases remain unresolved or are dismissed due to insufficient evidence, the findings showed.

Data from the past five years indicate that 4,794 cases were filed under the Information and Pornography Control Act 2012, the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006, and the Digital Security Act 2018.

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

Police headquarters officials said the rapid expansion of internet banking and mobile financial services has created opportunities for criminals to steal money using information and communication technology.

They also noted online bullying, distribution of pornographic content involving minor girls, hacking of websites to steal data, issuing threats, and dissemination of defamatory or false information as other major cybercrimes.

“The use of social media to exploit religious sentiments has emerged as a major concern in recent years, alongside propaganda against national interests,” said an official.

He said these crimes are often related to character assassination, blackmail for extortion, and various forms of digital fraud.

“These concerns lead us to the conclusion that there is an urgent need to form a specialised Cyber Police Unit to strengthen our capacity to counter the growing threat of cybercrime in Bangladesh,” the official added.

Independent cybersecurity expert Mohammad Shariat Ullah told BSS that cybercrimes are highly sophisticated offences requiring dedicated units staffed with properly trained personnel.

At present, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police is mainly entrusted with handling cybercrime cases.