Bengaluru continues to be a hotspot for cyber crimes, topping the charts for the umpteenth time in 2022. New data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that the city reported a whopping 73.4% of the 13,534 cyber crime cases reported across 19 metro cities.
With 9,940 cases on record, Bengaluru's lead is substantial, far surpassing its counterparts. Hyderabad, another IT hub, reported only 282 cases, while cities like Lucknow, Ghaziabad, and Kanpur outpaced it.
To tackle the surge, Bengaluru's City Police Commissioner has taken measures with eight dedicated police stations and Special Investigation Teams (SIT) now in place, streamlining the reporting and investigation process. Despite these efforts, the city has already crossed 9,000 cyber crime cases by November this year.
The Cybercrime Incident Report (CIR) has aided in improving the recovery of lost funds, allowing real-time freezing of transactions related to stolen money. However, the recovery is still a fraction of the losses incurred.
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Expressing concern, Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge had said that Karnataka, as a state, lost an alarming Rs 1 crore per day to cyber crimes in 2022. Karnataka stands second in the list of states with 12,549 cyber crime cases out of the total 31,908 cases registered in 2022.
The NCRB adheres to the 'Principal Offence Rule,' wherein, among multiple offences listed in a single FIR, the crime with the most severe penalty is taken as the primary counting unit. As the NCRB report is a compilation of locally submitted data, any inefficiencies or gaps in the information at the local level can significantly affect the accuracy of the overall report.
The NCRB acknowledges that it does not capture the socio-economic causative factors or reasons behind crimes. Various factors contribute to this, such as the apprehension of an uncooperative or hostile police response, which can discourage certain groups from reporting cases. Additionally, a scarcity of police officers or vacant positions at the local level may impede the collection of accurate data.