UP Police doubles cyber helpline capacity to curb online frauds

Lucknow: In an upgrade to Uttar Pradesh’s cybercrime response infrastructure, director general of police Rajeev Krishna on Monday inaugurated the expanded cyber fraud mitigation centre and the upgraded 1930 Cyber Helpline Standalone 2.0 Centre at Kalli Paschim police lines in Lucknow.

The upgraded facility now has a total of 80 operator seats, nearly six times the capacity of the state’s first cyber helpline setup. Uttar Pradesh’s cyber helpline journey began in Jan 2021 under the number 155260 with just 14 operator desks.

After the nationwide rollout of the 1930 cyber helpline in 2022, the capacity remained at 14 seats before being expanded to 20 in Nov 2023. In July 2025, the state’s first standalone cyber response centre increased capacity to 50 seats. With the inauguration of Standalone 2.0, another 30 seats have been added, taking the total strength to 80 operators.

The inauguration was attended by RBI regional director Pankaj Kumar, Nabard chief general manager Pankaj Kumar and Bank of Baroda general manager and SLBC convenor Shailendra Kumar Singh.

DGP Rajeev Krishna said cyber fraud investigations were a race against time. “In cybercrime cases, not just the golden hour but the golden minutes are crucial. Immediate reporting on 1930 significantly improves the chances of freezing fraudulent transactions and saving victims’ money,” he said.

Krishna said the expanded infrastructure would further strengthen the state’s ability to trace fraud proceeds, secure victims’ money and disrupt the financial networks used by cyber criminals. He praised the efforts of DG, cyber crime, Binod Kumar Singh, cyber headquarters officials and banking partners in establishing the upgraded facility.

DG, Cyber/CID/112, Binod Kumar Singh said a key pillar of the state’s cybercrime strategy was the cyber fraud mitigation centre, which acts as a coordination hub between police, banks and financial institutions. The network has expanded rapidly since its inception.