Based on 2,165 orders issued by courts, the banks have refunded Rs 4.4 crore to the victims of cybercrimes without any FIR being registered, the cybercrime cell of the state police said on October 1.
The cybercrime cell had earlier appealed to courts under Section 457 of the code which relates to action by police upon the seizure of assets. It had asked the courts to issue orders to banks and e-wallet companies to help the victims get their money back without having to register formal complaints.
As many as 475 such applications were made under Section 457 to the chief metropolitan court and on June 26 this year, the court ordered the banks to refund Rs 76 lakh to various victims.
A special training session was also organised by the cyber crime cell for all city and district police officers to initiate state-wide efforts to help victims get their money back.
Earlier in June this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, introduced national pan-India number 1930 as the Cyber Financial Fraud helpline to help people in distress if someone fraudulently withdraws money from their accounts or digital wallets or misuses their credit /debit cards. But even before this came into force, the Gujarat police had set up the ‘Cyber Aashvast Project’ through which the cell proactively froze stolen money. The Gujarat cybercrime cell later integrated its project with the 1930 system.
So far more than Rs 36 crore has been frozen in the state, but banks were not giving the money back to the victims and were insisting on FIRs or court orders. Meanwhile, a number of victims did not wish to register FIRs. The cybercrime cell stepped in to resolve the matter after discussions with prosecutors, Gujarat State Legal Services Authority, and other stakeholders.
Also Read: Gujarat Sees 235% Rise In Cybercrime In Last 5 Years: NCRB Data
