Kargil, April 18, 2024: Directorate of Information & Public Relations, Union Territory of Ladakh today organized a workshop on Cyber Security at Auditorium Hall, Kargil.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kargil, Shree Ram R; Chief Engineer, PHE, I&FC, Maqbool Hussain; Joint Director, Information, Ladakh, Imteeaz Kacho; Assistant Commissioner Development, Kargil Padma Angmo; District Sheep Husbandry Officer, Dr.Niyaz-ul-Hasnain, Executive Engineer, PDD, Er. Feroz Ahmad; Principal GDC Drass, Dr.Amjad Ali; Er.Wajahat Ali Mir, Technical Officer to Chief Engineer, Distribution Wing, Kargil; District Leprosy Officer & Nodal Officer, Mental Health, Dr. Fatima Nissa; District Informatics Officer, NIC-Kargil, Iftikhar Hussain; Assistant Professors of Government Degree College, Kargil; Nodal Officer, SVEEP, Ghulam Rasool Lal; Supervisors of ICDS-Kargil, Village Level Workers, Anganwari Workers, Health Workers, Street Vendors besides staff of Department of Information & Public Relations, members of the media fraternity and students of Government Degree College, Kargil and various schools were present on the occasion.

While addressing the audience, SSP Kargil, Shree Ram R highlighted various cyber-related crimes such as investment fraud, crypto currency fraud and ponzi-type schemes and urged the audience to exercise caution. He said that identity theft has now begun to affect Government servants. Scamsters use their identity to create fake accounts, he said. People then end up becoming victims when scamsters use blackmailing tactics through various means. ATM frauds have also become rampant these days, he added. Further, he outlined the measures undertaken by Ladakh Police to combat cyber fraud.

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The Nodal Officer of SVEEP in Kargil, Ghulam Rasool Lal also addressed the audience and gave an outline of the activities related to voter education and electoral literacy. Further, he informed the gathering about various apps of the Election Commission of India and about how useful they will be for first-time voters in particular. The SVEEP selfie points and banners were displayed prominently in and outside the auditorium.

Resource persons from the Police, banking sector and legal field were invited for the workshop in order to explain the nuances of cyber frauds in a simple and lucid manner. They threw ample light on their given topics from different perspectives.

Sub-Inspector Tsering Dolkar from the Cyber Crime Unit of Ladakh Police gave an elaborate Power Point Presentation (PPT) and extensively threw light on various types of cyber frauds and enlightened the audience about how to take precautionary measures. She also informed the audience about recent cases of cyber fraud in which the victims were from Kargil. She also got into a lively interaction with the audience and replied to their questions.

Addressing the legal dimensions of cyber security, Legal Assistant of Directorate of Information, Muzaffar Hussain outlined the existing laws related to cybercrime in India and informed the audience about the supervisory and monitoring bodies involved. Further, he clearly pointed out that many cases of cyber crime have no positive outcome as the perpetrators are sitting in foreign lands and our law enforcing agencies have no jurisdiction there.

The representative of Cluster Head, J&K Bank Kargil, Zeeshan Ali briefed the participants about various bank-related cyber frauds and data privacy issues particularly bank-related cyber phishing. He was quite candid about various consequences while replying to important and relevant questions of the audience.

District Informatics Officer, NIC-Kargil, Iftikhar Hussain (Nodal Officer, IT Applications) briefed the audience about the working mechanism of EVMs, VVPAT machines and the significance of various applications of Election Commission of India like cVIGIL, KYC and Saksham.

The inquisitive students and other participants sought to know more from the resource persons and speakers through a variety of questions during the course of the workshop.

The Regional Arts & Theatre Art Group (RaNTHAG), led by its Director Kacho Ahmed Khan, presented a play demonstrating the vulnerability and severe consequences of cyber frauds in an innovative and effective manner.

A short film on digital payment fraud was also screened during the course of the workshop in order to bring home the simple point that anybody and everybody could be targetted by scamsters irrespective of the level of awareness.

In his address, the Joint Director, Information, Imteeaz Kacho said that the Department of Information & Public Relations is organizing workshops in both Kargil and Leh today on a variety of topics including cyber security. He added that that the Secretary of the Department was very particular about having workshops on cyber frauds in order to sensitize citizens and Government employees alike about the risks involved. He emphasized the importance of caution and awareness in today’s digital era and expressed concerns about how Government employees uploading data regarding various schemes may become victims of cyber crimes. Further, he extended gratitude to all esteemed guests and experts for sharing their valuable knowledge on cyber frauds and various mitigation strategies.

Kacho lauded the efforts of the participating students in their attempt to learn as much as possible from the resource persons and speakers. He pointed out how effectively RaNTHAG has been revolutionizing the theatre scene in Kargil through hard-hitting messages regarding social evils and other issues.

While presenting the vote of thanks, Assistant Information Officer, Department of Information & Public Relations, Anwar Ali expressed gratitude to the all guests particularly the Senior Superintendent of Police, the Chief Engineer, District-level Officers, media persons, students, municipal workers and especially the Resource Persons as well as the organizers and all other participants. He made a particular mention of RaNTHAG for the mesmerizing and memorable performance on the stage.