Gujarat govt launches portal to expedite cyber crime refunds, mobile app to unfreeze bank accounts

Indian Express

14-05-2025

In a step to facilitate victims of crime, especially cyber crime, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday launched two online portals and a mobile application of the state Home Department.
CM Patel launched the statewide Cyber Crime Refund Portal, 'Tera Tujhko Arpan', to expedite cyber crime refunds to citizens. Beside, an application called 'Unfreeze' has been introduced for people whose bank accounts had been frozen after they were used without their knowledge for a financial transaction in cybercrime cases. With the help of this app, such citizens can virtually unfreeze their bank accounts, without needing to appear in person before the police.
Besides, the CM launched the i-Pragati portal, which will generate timely and accurate updates of investigation of cases after the filing of an FIR, including the panchnama, arrest of the accused, chargesheet and other processes.
Speaking at the event, Minister of State, Home, Harsh Sanghavi said that Gujarat police had not only 'set a path' for other states to follow in cases of accounts frozen for cyber crime but was also the top state to refund cyber crime amounts to victims.
Sanghavi said, 'The entire pattern of crime has changed in present times. The biggest challenge in the future is cyber crime and so, in order to ensure that people know where to go and how to have their money recovered, these steps have been taken… Gujarat is the only state in the country to show a path to the other states… If there has been a financial fraud with a person holding Rs 500 crore of clean, honest money in an account then it is unfair that the entire account is frozen because of a transfer of Rs 10,000 …'
Sanghavi said that the Gujarat police, as per the new policy, had unfreezed 2.25 lakh accounts of persons across the country. 'Under the new policy, we have decided that an account, which has more than five complaints against it of an amount of over Rs 5 lakh, will be frozen. Only the amount involved in that particular crime will be frozen and not the rest of the amount held in the account,' he added.
Sanghavi said it was a 'misconception' that highly educated people cannot be cheated as most victims of Gujarat hailed from cities, and were from an educated background, as compared to just a few victims of cyber fraud from rural areas. 'The Gujarat police has been the most successful in refunding money lost to cyber crime… Now, to ensure that people do not have to struggle to receive refunds from cyber crime, we are also introducing a hotline number and it will soon be available in one app of Gujarat police,' he said.
On Operation Sindoor, Sanghavi said the state government had deployed its anti-drone systems in the border districts to be on standby but they were not required to be used as the armed forces tackled on their own the drones sent by Pakistan. Sanghavi said, 'Last year, the Gujarat government procured an anti-drone system. Now, all states are speaking of anti-drone. But Gujarat police, being proactive, has made limited arrangements for anti-drone systems in city areas, which could be sent to the border areas to be used if needed. But we need to salute our defence forces that none of the state government's anti-drones needed to be used. We do not have the system as big as the defence forces but the decision to buy the anti-drone system has proved right as it can be used in border districts, if needed.'
Sanghavi said that a committee is working to prepare an integrated monitoring of CCTV cameras of different departments across the state so that investigation of crime can be even tighter.