Cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, in Karnataka have risen by nearly 86% over the past seven years, Home Minister G Parameshwara told the Legislative Assembly on Friday, December 18.
Responding to an Opposition demand for a debate on what it described as a “deteriorating” law and order situation, the minister shared official data showing that POCSO cases increased from 2,197 in 2019 to 4,096 in 2025, up to the end of November.
Addressing concerns over the surge, Parameshwara said the government was focusing on better implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act and strengthening preventive measures through anti-women and child trafficking police stations.
The home minister also spoke about prison security, referring to recent incidents in which criminals lodged at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail were found to be using mobile phones and other contraband. He said the government plans to reintroduce the old “call system”, under which prisons are equipped with landline phones for inmates to contact family members and lawyers.
According to him, tenders would soon be floated to procure the landline equipment. He also informed the House that a central command centre for prisons would be set up at the department’s headquarters, linking CCTV footage from all prisons across the state.
The government is also planning to install baggage scanners in prisons to curb the smuggling of prohibited items. Parameshwara said that during raids conducted between November 11 and December 15, police seized 73 mobile phones, 54 SIM cards, 60 grams of banned substances and packets of cigarettes from prisons across Karnataka.
The Home Minister also flagged a sharp rise in cyber fraud cases, particularly digital arrest scams. He told the House that since 2023, a total of 1,314 such cases have been reported in Karnataka, in which victims were cheated of more than Rs 312 crore.
He said police had so far recovered valuables worth Rs 24.86 crore, of which Rs 18.33 crore had been returned to the victims.
Parameshwara said the police had taken action against social media and messaging platforms used by the accused to perpetrate the frauds. As many as 268 Facebook accounts, 456 Telegram accounts, 15 Instagram accounts and 61 WhatsApp accounts had been deactivated as part of the crackdown.
Urging citizens to report economic offences promptly, he said complaints could be registered through the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
