Cybercrime jumped 30% across AP in 2018: NCRB
By Newsmeter Network Published on 10 Jan 2020 11:22 AM GMT
Highlights
- AP ranks second in the country in cyberstalking, with 83 cases
- AP ranks second in cyber blackmailing with 12 cases
- Vizag city accounts for over 40% of total cybercrime cases reported in AP
- AP police plan to set up cyber forensic labs in all cities and towns
Visakhapatnam: The number of cybercrime offences in Andhra Pradesh increased by around 30 per cent in 2018 compared to the previous year as per the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau. Fraud was the prime motive in 60 per cent of the 733 cybercrime cases registered in the state.
A total of 1,207 instances of cybercrime were recorded in 2018 in Andhra over the previous year’s figure of 931, says the NCRB report, Crime in India-2018. It said that a total of 2,754 cybercrime offences were reported between 2016 and 2018.
With 1,207 cases in 2018, Andhra Pradesh stood 5th in the country in the overall cybercrime list. Uttar Pradesh occupied the top place with 6,280 cases, followed by Karnataka (5,839), Maharashtra (3,511) and Assam with 2,022 cases.
A senior police officer with the AP's cybercrime wing, S Ravi Kumar, said the data revealed that more than half of the incidents in 2018 were driven by fraud (financial crimes), followed by sexual exploitation with 92 cases, extortion (45) and revenge (34).
State DGP Gautam Sawang said that the cybercrooks have turned increasingly tech-savvy and they have been posing a great challenge to the police with their innovative modus of Operandi. Vizag city has been witnessing the highest number of cybercrime cases – over 500 cases a year – in Andhra Pradesh for the past few years, he said.
A total of 217 cybercrime cases were registered against women in Andhra Pradesh. The cases related to blackmail or threats, pornography or hosting or publishing obscene sexual materials, cyberstalking or cyberbullying of women, defamation, or morphing and indecent representation of women and others. A total of 12 cybercrime offences against children were reported in the state in 2018.
The police said that the cybercrime detection rate in AP has crossed 40 per cent and the conviction rate is around 20 per cent. Over half of such cases have been in the investigation stage as the police apparently failed to get concrete clues to solve the crimes.
Key statistics on cybercrime in AP
2016: 616
2017: 931
2018: 1,207
