Karnataka trains 13k officials pan-India on cybercrime probe in 2025-26

Bengaluru: As fraudsters increasingly pivot to the cyber world, targeting lakhs of victims, Karnataka is training security personnel from across the country in a bid to combat the trend.The Centre for Cyber Crime Investigation Training and Research (CCITR) trained more than 13,000 personnel in the country this financial year, with the majority of them belonging to Karnataka. CCITR was established in 2019 by the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), collaborating with the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Infosys Foundation.
"Cybercrime is not confined to any geographical area. It is a borderless, technology-driven, and continuously evolving crime. From financial frauds and cryptocurrency to dark web-based drug networks and data breaches, the scale of threats is rapidly increasing. These challenges must be addressed not only through technical capabilities but also by strengthening laws in an organised manner," home minister G Parameshwara stated at the state's annual cybercrime investigation summit, ‘CIDECODE', Saturday.More than 5,200 personnel from Karnataka state police received virtual training on investigating cybercrimes. Additionally, 926 police personnel from the state received an overview of cybercrimes and open-source intelligence techniques, dark web and deep web, and the basics of blockchain. During the programme, a simulated environment of the crime scene was created to perform search and seizure in various situations and conditions.Eight police officers selected from the 43 CEN (cyber, economic, and narcotics) police stations in the state were trained in digital forensics. It also extended to 40 Special Action Force (SAF) and technical experts within the department, and to more than 400 probationary sub inspectors of police from the Karnataka Police Academy, Mysuru, and the Police Training College in Kalaburagi.Apart from the police, 210 judicial officers from the state, belonging to the rank of district and session judges and senior civil judges, received workshops on cyberlaw, in collaboration with the Karnataka Judicial Academy. As many as 30 officials from the commercial taxes department received training on digital investigation techniques. Personnel from national agencies like NIA, and IAF were also part of the state's training programmes.Pronab Mohanty, Director General of Police (Cyber Command), revealed that many cyber criminals behind sophisticated "pig butchering" and stock market scams are mostly individuals operating out of remote clusters. "These individuals have a terrifyingly high grasp of technology. They may not have university degrees, but they have mastered how we behave around technology," he explained.———InfographicsTraining by Karnataka-13,000 security personnel across India trained. This includes over 5,200 police officers from the state-Elite training was provided to 8 officers from the state's CEN stations-210 judicial officers and 30 tax officials participated in workshops*Figures for 2025-26 (Till Feb 2026)Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Women's day wishes, messages and quotes !