Why fear virtual world? Stay happy in real world: Police

By: Dabangana Das


Kolkata: Kolkata Police would soon set up a dedicated cyber cell police station for each division so that senior citizens did not have to travel all the way to Lalbazar to lodge their cybercrime complaints, reiterated Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Verma on Saturday. Verma was speaking at a special Pronam programme in Tollygunge, where he interacted with more than 100 senior citizens.

Verma again pointed out there "could not be any arrest virtually", repeatedly telling elderly citizens there was nothing called ‘Digital Arrest' and they could not be trapped.

Pronam, a community service model for the elderly, is a joint initiative of Kolkata-based NGO The Bengal and Kolkata Police, started in 2009. Former CM Jyoti Basu and Suchitra Sen were among the first to enrol as Pronam members, and the membership base has now grown to over 20,000 senior citizens.

"People must realise it is a virtual world. Why fear it? It cannot be a stigma just because someone drops the name of police or a central agency. It does not mean that it exists in the real world. We understand awareness is the key, and we are doing exactly that. Every two-three days, we issue fresh alerts, and we hope everyone—especially senior citizens—will follow them. This helped the total monetary loss of the city to cybercrimes to drop by almost Rs 60 crore between 2024 and 2025," said Verma.

"Stay healthy, happy and in the real world that you belong to. Don't fall into the trap of the virtual world. Don't think you are alone, KP is always beside you," added the CP.

The event was attended by Sundeep Bhutoria, secretary general of The Bengal that provides social, cultural and moral support to Pronam members, and Arindam Sil, joint convener of Pronam. The event ended with a cultural event by the members. "Pronam created a community service model that addresses both physical and psychological needs of the elderly," said Bhutoria.