Chandigarh, Dec 19 (IANS): The Cyber Crime Cell of Punjab Police in coordination with Punjab State Legal Services has facilitated the refund of a frozen amount of Rs 28.5 lakh, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Tuesday.

He said after registration of the complaint on helpline 1930 or Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), the money of victims got frozen in the accounts of the accused and suspects.

“Till date 28,642 complaints regarding financial frauds were filed on helpline 1930 and acting swiftly the Cyber Cell froze the money. The amount lying frozen in the banks till now is to the tune of Rs 15.5 crore,” he said.

The DGP said that in order to streamline the procedure of refunding the frozen amount, the Cyber Crime Cell has approached the State Legal Services Authority to facilitate the refund under Section 457 of the CrPC through Lok Adalats.

He added that Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) V Neeraja had a meeting with Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, Executive Chairman of the Punjab Legal Services Authority on December 5 and got the necessary directions issued to all district legal service authorities on the procedure to be adopted for the refund.

Sharing details, Neeraja said as a pilot project, the Ludhiana Commissionerate Police on December 9 submitted 36 case applications on complaints reported on 1930 helpline for refund to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ludhiana, of which 33 applications were approved by the court and Rs 28.5 lakh were ordered to be released.

“More applications for refund of the frozen amount of about Rs 6 lakh in Ludhiana and 11 from Mohali for Rs 15 lakh is under consideration,” Neeraja said, adding this process would help so many victims of cyber frauds to reclaim the money lost to fraudsters.