Hyderabad Police launched C-Mitra for home-based cybercrime FIR registration
Hyderabad: Hyderabad City Police on Friday launched C-Mitra, a virtual helpdesk that enables cybercrime victims to register FIRs from home, eliminating the need to visit police stations.
Hyderabad Commissioner of Police V.C. Sajjanar, IPS, said the C-Mitra launch marked a major step in citizen-centric policing. He stated that the virtual system brought police assistance directly to people affected by cyber fraud. Moreover, the initiative aimed to offer quick relief to victims of OTP frauds, digital arrests, investment scams, and trading frauds as cybercrime cases continued to rise.
Initially, the service is available only to residents within the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate limits. First, victims must report the fraud by calling the 1930 helpline or filing a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Subsequently, virtual police officers from the C-Mitra team contact the complainant to assist with the FIR process.
How the C-Mitra launch simplifies FIR registration
Many victims struggle with legal language while filing cybercrime complaints. Therefore, the C-Mitra team uses artificial intelligence tools to draft accurate complaints based on details provided by victims. After that, the team sends the drafted complaint to the victim for review and signature.
Next, the victim must print, sign, and send the complaint by post or courier to the Cyber Mitra Help Desk at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Basheerbagh. Alternatively, victims can drop the signed copy in a dedicated drop box at the cybercrime police station. Once police receive the physical document, they register the FIR and send confirmation details through SMS. Meanwhile, officials said they were exploring digital signatures for future use.
To streamline investigations, police introduced a ₹3 lakh threshold. Cases involving losses above ₹3 lakh go directly to the Cyber Crime Police Station for investigation. In contrast, cases below ₹3 lakh are registered as Zero FIRs and transferred to the respective local law and order police stations.
Currently, physical FIR registration takes nearly three hours on average. Through the C-Mitra launch, police aim to save citizens’ time and allow station staff to focus on investigations. At present, only 18 percent of cybercrime complaints convert into FIRs. However, the department has set a target to achieve a 100 percent conversion rate using the new system.
The virtual helpdesk operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and functions with a 24-member team supported by AI tools. To prevent fraud, police clarified that official calls will come only from the landline number 040-4189-3111. Similarly, WhatsApp messages will originate only from numbers starting with 87126. Importantly, officials stressed that staff will never ask for OTPs or money.
Police clarified that C-Mitra only facilitates FIR registration. It does not investigate cases, provide legal advice, or guarantee recovery of lost funds. On the occasion, the Commissioner appreciated senior officers and staff involved in launching the initiative.
