Cybercrime crackdown: Goa cops get 507 websites, 767 scam-linked phone numbers blocked
Panaji (PTI): Goa police has blocked 507 fraudulent websites and 767 scam-linked phone numbers this year as part of its crackdown on cybercriminals, an official said on Saturday.
The department initiated 660 takedown requests against various online fraud platforms, comprising 507 websites, 151 social media accounts, and two malicious mobile applications, Superintendent of Police (CyberCrime) Rahul Gupta said.
"The blocked platforms were linked to range of cyber offences such as fake parcel delivery scams, online investment frauds, sextortion and dating app blackmail operations, impersonation of government authorities, also known as digital arrest scams, and fake hotel booking portals to cheat tourists," the SP said.
The highest number of takedowns was registered in May 2025, when authorities disabled 258 fraudulent websites, followed by 78 in January and 72 in June, Gupta added.
"These actions were carried out with support from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen cyber hygiene and disrupt fraud networks at the source," the official informed.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
