Hyderabad: The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has ensured the refund of Rs 31.29 crore siphoned off by scammers from victims in less than four months. Teaming up with the TS Legal Services Authority (TSLSA) and the High Court, TGCSB facilitated the refund to victims of cyber fraud from February 20 to June 8 this year through two mega Lok Adalats.
The teamwork between TGCSB and TSLSA enabled this. “The constant discussions, with a focus on the growing number of cybercrimes causing financial losses to citizens, helped in achieving the feat,” said TGCSB director Shikha Goel.
One of the major concerns was that a significant portion of the fraudulent money was parked in bank accounts for extended periods without being returned to the victims. "To provide relief to the victims, it was decided to issue refund orders with the help of pre-litigation cases (PLCs) by holding Lok Adalats," Shikha Goel said.
To streamline the process of filing petitions under Section 457 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), a standard operating procedure (SOP) was followed and circulated to all district legal services authorities (DLSAs) as well as SPs/CPs in the state on February 20 this year. Altogether, 5,142 petitions were filed in the courts after implementing the decision and issuing instructions for refunds.
Further, Shikha Goel stated that the collaboration between the judiciary and police helped create a robust legal framework aimed at addressing the financial issues related to cybercrimes affecting citizens.
