Cybercrime reporting has improved by converting alerts from the cyber tip line, the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal, and complaints received at 112 into FIRs, say police.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
In the year gone by, Bengaluru recorded the highest-ever number of cybercrimes — 17,623 cases, a whopping 77% rise from 2022 and nearly thrice that of 2021.
When the city recorded just 9,940 cases in 2022, it was nearly 75% of all cybercrimes registered in 19 metros across the country, as per the recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
According to data released by the city police on Wednesday (Jan. 3), out of the 17,623 cases registered in 2023, only 1,271 have been detected. As many as 14,285 cases are still under investigation, highlighting the enormity of the caseload and the fact that investigations are still trying to catch up.
“Cybercrime cases are the biggest challenge the city police are facing now. Our decision to register cyber cases in law and order police stations besides CEN police stations, keeping in mind the convenience of people, has led to more cybercrimes being registered. However, it gives a more realistic figure of the menace,” City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda said.
Apart from registering cybercrime cases in all police stations, senior police officials said the reporting has improved by converting alerts from the cyber tip line, the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal (NCRP), and complaints received at 112 into FIRs. The city police have also begun an awareness campaign — Cyber Tip a Day — on the city police’s social media accounts.
However, non-cooperation of service providers, banks, and global tech platforms, and their refusal to provide information in time have emerged as the biggest hurdle for investigations, senior police officials said. The Police Commissioner has formed four Special Investigation Teams under a Deputy Commissioner of Police to probe cybercrimes.