Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi pledged to strengthen the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) during a media briefing in Lahore. Naqvi stated that an investigating officer currently handles between 3,000 and 4,000 cases.
The province of Punjab has a population of approximately 140 million, yet the NCCIA only has 61 personnel stationed across the region. To improve capacity, the government plans to establish dedicated police stations and open additional offices for the agency.
Arrangements for these new police stations are expected to be finalised within 10 to 15 days. Naqvi promised to discuss the current shortages of resources and staff with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The agency is required to issue three notices before it can register a first information report (FIR). Operations against call centres over the last 10 to 12 days resulted in the arrest of around 600 people.
Financial fraud cases involving the agency range from Rs10,000 to millions of rupees. Naqvi affirmed that no government employee receives an exemption in cases involving harassment.
Pakistan is currently coordinating with foreign partners to apprehend suspects involved in cross-border crimes.
