Hyderabad Police Launch C-Mitra To Enable Cyberfraud Victims To Lodge FIR Virtually

Hyderabad: A virtual helpdesk to assist the victims of cyberfraud in filing an FIR without visiting any police station in person was launched by the Hyderabad police on Friday.

Called C-Mitra, it was launched at the Central Crime Station (CCS) office in Basheerbagh in the presence of Hyderabad police commissioner VC Sajjana and senior police officials. The initiative is touted to be the "first initiative of its kind" in the country to provide immediate relief to citizens facing digital crimes, including OTP frauds, digital arrests, and scams pertaining to investment and trading. Sajjanar said the "virtual police officer" system leverages technology to bring policing to the doorstep of common people.

Cases involving amounts below Rs three lakh will be registered as Zero FIRs by C-Mitra and transferred to the respective police stations, and the frauds of higher amounts can be filed at the Cyber ​​Crime Police Station.

C-Mitra is currently accessible only to residents within the limits of the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate, stated a release. In case of a fraud, victims are required to report the same by calling the national helpline number '1930' or file a complaint on the National Cybercrime Portal (cybercrime.gov.in). After registration, virtual police personnel from the C-Mitra team will get in touch with the complainant.

A help desk with 24 personnel available from 8 am to 8 pm every day has been set up. Calls from C-Mitra will come only from the official helpdesk number 040-41893111, and only '87126' series numbers will be used for sending messages via WhatsApp. Sajjanar advised the citizen to remain vigilant against fake calls made in the name of C-Mitra.

The C-Mitra team uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to draft a precise complaint based on the details provided by the complainant and forwards the same to the person, as many are unfamiliar with legal terminology or relevant sections of the law.

Following this, the victim needs to print, sign and send the draft complaint via post or courier to the Cyber Mitra Help Desk at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Basheerbagh. Alongside, a dropbox has been made available at the police station for victims to submit signed copies. Based on the physical copy, an FIR will be registered and forwarded to the victim via SMS. While physical signatures are currently mandatory, officials said a digital signature option is being explored for the future.

Police said registration of an FIR physically takes three hours on average, and C-Mitra chips in here to save citizens' time and allow station staff to focus on investigations.

As only 18% of complaints received through the helpline and national portal are translated into FIRs, the department aims to increase this conversion rate to 100% through C-Mitra, the release added.

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