Cyber law loopholes torments victim

Ambarish B / TNN / Oct 10, 2007, 01:03 IST

Share

AA

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

Many people are falling prey to online crimes, yet there is little respite.

BANGALORE: Mohammed Ghouse Kaladgi, an advertising marketing executive, shuttled between the Corp of Detectives’ (CoD) cyber police station and High Ground’s police station from September 28 to October 9 just to lodge a complaint about a fake online lottery case.
There was a time when complainants ran from pillar to post as the police refused to lodge cases by citing jurisdictional constraints.Today, cops have a new excuse: "The crime doesn’t fall under the law we deal with." Kaladgi’s trauma after losing Rs 30,000 to a cheat was only compounded as it took forever to register a complaint.
Kaladgi was jubilant when he got an e-mail from one Scott Peterson, who said he’d won a £4.5-lakh lottery after playing an online game. Scott, who claimed to be operating from Hampshire, UK, sent another e-mail informing Kaladgi that he’d also won a Volkswagen car.
Next, Kaladgi received a mail from Volkswagen automobiles, UK, asking him to pay the delivery charges. He deposited Rs 29,967 to an account in the name of one Marcy on September 22. However, he smelt a rat and here began the rigmarole. Kaladgi decided to lodge a complaint with the cyber police. However, even after making rounds to two police stations for over two weeks, Kaladgi is still trying to comprehend the legalese of the case. "The only cyber police station of the state with the CoD deals with cases that fall under sections 65, 66 and 67 of the IT Act, 2002. An online cheating case comes under sections of the IPC, hence we told the complainant to go to a law and order police station to lodge their complaints," said CoD officers.

Haryana

Jammu & Kashmir

Haryana

Alliance View
i
Party View

Seats: 90

L + W

Majority: 46

BJP

48

CONG

37

INLD

2

AAP

0

OTH

3

Leads + Wins: 90/90

BJP WON

Source: PValue

However, police officials say that a police officer, under the law, can deny a citizen’s right to lodge a complaint. Moreover, experts said even while dealing with sections under the IT Act, the cyber police have to include sections of the IPC. "While investigating any cyber crime, the sleuths have to take up some IPC sections as well. The more they study a case, higher the chances of registering a fresh case under the IT Act," said Vijayshankar, a cyber consultant.
ambarish.bhat@timesgroup.com

End of Article

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA