Hyderabad, Feb 22 : For the first time in India, police in Telangana are deploying 'cyber warriors' at police stations across the state to fight cybercrime. Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy on Monday launched the new initiative under which two to five police personnel from each police station will be provided training to act as 'cyber warriors' to prevent and investigate cyber crimes, as well create public awarenesss. Keeping in view the increasing number of cyber crimes, the state police embarked on the new initiative. The DGP launched the week-long training programme for 1,988 officials selected as 'cyber warriors'. There will be two 'cyber warriors' in each police station in rural areas while their number will be three in each police station in semi-urban areas. However, in each of the police stations coming under police commissionerates or cities, five cops will be trained as 'cyber warriors'. Speaking on the occasion, the DGP noted that as human life is increasingly becoming digital, cyber crimes are also on the rise. He said this was the first of its kind initiative undertaken anywhere in the country. The police chief said since 4G mobile services have been extended to even remote villages, cyber crimes can be committed from any part of the world. He hoped that the 'cyber warriors' will play a key role in preventing cyber crimes and also in ensure effective investigations into such crimes. The DGP said 17 functional verticals were already been prepared for day to day functioning of all police stations. Cyber crimes will now become the 18th functional vertical to assess the performance of the police force. Mahender Reddy said since cyber crimes are very different in nature from the conventional crimes, special training will be provided to 'cyber warriors' not only to prevent cyber crimes but also to create awareness among people and also investigate such crimes. He also noted that every crime which takes place will have some cyber-related component, and if 'cyber warriors' help the police officers investigating conventional crimes, the investigations can be completed expeditiously. The DGP pointed out that day by day, cyber criminals are using modern techniques and said the state police should also keep itself abreast with the latest technological developments to tackle cyber crimes. The police chief said 2021 has been declared as cyber safety year and as part of this, Inspector General of Police Rajesh Kumar was appointed as the special officer in the cyber cell. He said the IG will coordinate with Central government departments and police officials of various states about cyber crime. The DGP released a booklet titled 'cyber warrior' at the programme, which was attended by Additional DGP Govind Singh and IG Rajesh Kumar. /IANS