Telangana Police Launch Sentinel Cyber Tool
HYDERABAD: Telangana Police have introduced a new digital tool, Sentinel, to strengthen cybercrime investigations. The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau and the Cyberabad Police developed the platform to improve coordination and speed up case processing.
Sentinel functions as a digital support system with three modules investigation, refund and de-freeze.
Investigation module streamlines digital data requests
The investigation module enables police to digitally collect information from service providers, e-commerce platforms, banks, social media companies and other digital intermediaries. Officers can send requests for Internet Protocol logs, subscriber detail records, Know Your Customer information, call data records and bank account opening forms to aid probes.
The tool also provides access to portals such as the Coordination, CEIR and NIC Mail platforms through an external links tab, making coordination easier during investigations.
Refund module speeds up recovery of funds
When victims report cyber fraud through the 1930 helpline before money is withdrawn, police register a case and initiate steps to freeze the transferred amount. Officials seek to recover funds moved from the victim’s account to those of fraudsters.
According to National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal statistics, cybercrime gangs often divert stolen money into 20–25 bank accounts immediately. Through Sentinel’s refund module, investigating officers can generate multiple refund applications at once and obtain court refund orders quickly.
De-freeze module offers relief to unrelated account holders
Cybercriminals transfer stolen funds to mule accounts. During investigations, police freeze these accounts and, in some cases, other accounts that receive linked transfers.
With the de-freeze module, affected account holders can submit digital requests. If the investigating officer confirms that the account is not linked to the case, it can be de-frozen without delay.
