| . | One of the most important criminal activity which has caught the attention of people in India is the kidnapping of a famous personality of South India namely Dr Rajkumar of Karnataka by a sandal wood smuggler turned tamil separatist Mr Veerappan. One of the reasons that this notorious criminal who is responsible for over 130 murders besides smuggling of sandalwood and poaching of elephants in the forests of Karantaka and Tamilnadu remains at large for more than 15 years, is the lack of inter-state cooperation in crime control. The police force in Tamilnadu has been indirectly shielding Mr Veerappan by not letting Karnataka Police operate freely whenever they have to give a chase to Mr Veerappan who is hiding in a jungle area between the two states. They also were unable to prevent the abduction of the celebrity within the territory of Tamilnadu from his ancestral residence, shifting the blame on the Karnataka Police for not informing about his visit. The reasons could be political counter forces and/or logistic problems that have prevented efficient operation of the Police forces. As a consequence of this lack of co-operation between the Police of the two states, there is an explosive situation now between two major states in South India comprising Bangalore, the Cyber Capital of India and Chennai, the headquarters of Satyam Infoway (SIFY), Pentafour group and other major IT companies. In the light of this development the proposal of the Indian Government to set up an all India police force of the FBI type made in a recent meeting of representatives of the state governments had merit. This would have helped in the control of not only the traditional crime cases such as Veerappan's crimes but also the Cyber crimes which typically cut across not only the state borders but also international borders. If there are problems for Police in Tamilnadu to coordinate with those in the neighboring state of Karnataka, to catch a criminal sitting in a jungle within a few kilometers from the civilized society, there appears to be no possibility of the same Tamilnadu police effectively coordinating say with the Police of San Fanscisco sitting on the other side of the Globe. However, in their bid to keep the control over the law enforcement authorities the political elements controlling the state governments unanimously scuttled the suggestion. This lack of vision and the selfishness of our state politicians will continue to haunt the law enforcement authorities in India when they try to build a "Regulated Cyber Society". I wish that better counsel will prevail amongst the police forces so that the special "Cyber crime cells" which are being set up by most state governments will be able to establish a co-operative network free from the political influences which will try to undermine them. In fact the need of the hour is not only cooperation between the Police of different states in India, but the enforcement authorities in all the countries which are connected to the Cyber Society. I suggest that the Government should bring about an amendment to the IT Act 2000 and if necessary other regulations under the Cr Pc, IPC etc , to set up and define the jurisdiction of a "Cyber Police Force of India". This could be model for many other countries and India could later take the lead in expanding the concept for setting up a " Global Cyber Policing Authority". If we don't act now, there will be many more Veerappans to contend with and they will be hiding in the Cyber jungles which could be impossible to search. |
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