NT Reporter
Panaji
Goa cyber crime police inspector Deepak Pednekar has been awarded cyber cop of the year 2025 while the cyber crime police station Ribandar has been awarded the finalist award in excellence in capacity-building of law enforcement agencies category by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI).
The awards were presented during a ceremony held in Delhi on December 5.
Pednekar was awarded ‘Cyber cop of the year’ for investigation into major cyber crime cases including disruption of international human trafficking network into cyber slavery compounds in Cambodia and arrest of a Chinese origin national named Nulaxi Talaniti earlier this year.
The case also led to disruption of SIM Box setup in Bengaluru denting the scam calls density significantly.
Police said that the particular case involved a complex and evolving form of exploitation where victims were lured through online advertisements promising overseas employment. Once trapped, they were digitally confined, coerced into running fraudulent online operations, and subjected to physical and financial threats. This emerging form of cyber-slavery is part of a growing global criminal ecosystem that leverages technology for human trafficking, extortion and exploitation, police said.
The cyber crime police station, Ribandar was awarded the finalist award in excellence in capacity-building of law enforcement agencies category.
Police said that this recognition comes due to significant advancement in cyber investigation capabilities of Goa police over the past one and half years including initiatives such as training approx 1,000 police personnel on cyber investigation, setting up of cybercrime response cell in all police stations, cyber yoddha initiative with volunteer network for awareness, intensive multi-stakeholder cyber awareness training to general public, coordination with I4C with learning of best practices and 24×7 functional 1930 with advanced
cloud-based telephony.
The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) is a premier industry body set up by NASSCOM to promote data protection, cyber security, and privacy in India.
It also recognises excellence in cyber security through initiatives like the DSCI excellence awards.
