West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan are being watched as new hotspots for cybercrime
West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan are emerging as new cybercrime hotspots, prompting the Centre to direct immediate crackdowns and faster investigations. The MHA is enhancing inter-state coordination through Joint Cyber Coordination Teams and workshops to tackle the growing threat. The Centre has instructed states to take immediate action by stepping up crackdowns, accelerating investigations, and clearing backlogs in order to stop the problem from getting worse. This is because districts in Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Maharashtra are quickly becoming new hotspots for cybercrime. Sources claim that to combat the growing menace of cybercrime, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan met at a high level last month with senior officials from hotspot districts and ranges, along with other top officers. Directors General of Police (DGPs), commissioners from every state and Union Territory (UT), their designated state cybercrime chiefs, and officials from areas designated as hotspots for cybercrime attended the meeting. Jharkhand has long been a hotspot for cybercrime, but new hotspots have surfaced in the Bharatpur Range (Rajasthan), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kolkata (West Bengal), and Dumka (Jharkhand), according to sources. According to sources, district SSPs who were present at the conference were instructed to reduce cybercrime. “To combat cybercrimes quickly, the government has requested that states seek technological assistance from the Centre. A meeting will be scheduled to prioritise the investigation because of new hotspots that have raised worries among cybersecurity organisations, according to a senior official. Under the Indian Cyber Crime Collaboration Centre (I4C), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has formed seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) to improve enforcement and collaboration. These teams work in places that have been identified as having significant levels of cybercrime activity and complicated, multi-jurisdictional issues, such as Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, and Guwahati. To improve coordination between law enforcement agencies across states and UTs, the MHA reported that seven JCCT workshops were held in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Lucknow, Ranchi, and Chandigarh.