Bengaluru has again topped the list in cyber crimes registered across all metro cities in India in 2022. The city has topped the chart of cyber crimes cases for several years now. However, this time, the city accounts for nearly three-fourths of the cases recorded in 19 metro cities, as per data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Sunday.
The city reported 9,940 cyber crime cases of the 13,534 cases reported in 19 metro cities during 2022, or 73.4% of the cases registered, the data shows
A senior official said Bengaluru tops the list in cyber crimes because of the high concentration of IT professionals in the city, which also reflects in high levels of awareness about cyber laws, prompting better reporting.
However, the NCRB data shows Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, another IT hub in South India, reported only 282 cyber crime cases among the 19 metro cities. Interestingly, Lucknow, Ghaziabad that houses another IT hub Noida, and Kanpur reported more cases.
The city, having five dedicated police stations to exclusively deal with cyber crimes, has also meant ease of reporting. Even in the current year, the city has already clocked over 9,000 cyber crime cases by November-end.
With the growing number of cases , the City Police Commissioner had asked the jurisdictional law and order police to pitch in and start registering cyber crime related cases at the local police stations to assist their counterparts.
In addition the Commissioner has also set up five Special Investigation Teams (SIT) each headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) to probe specific kinds of cyber crimes.
Investigation and recovery of money lost in cyber crimes has improved with the Cybercrime Incident Report (CIR) which helps to freeze transactions of stolen money in cyber crimes in real time. However, the recovery is still only a fraction of the money lost.
Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge said that the State, on an average, lost ₹1 crore a day to cyber crimes in 2022.
Karnataka also topped the list of States in the number of cyber crime cases reported with 12,549 registered, out of the total 31,908 registered in 2022.
Maximum number of Rash and negligent cases
Bengaluru has also topped the chart in the maximum number of cases booked against drivers for rash and negligent driving, among 19 metro cities, in 2022, the National Crime Records Bureau (NRB) data released on Sunday showed.
The data revealed that a total of 2,111 cases were registered against motorists causing grievous hurt to a total of 2,428 people. Kochi comes second with 1,729 cases, ahead of Mumbai and Delhi.
A senior traffic police official said that the highest number of cases indicate better enforcement in the city rather than the driving scenario compared to other cities. However, he added a lack of lane discipline was a big problem in the city.
The city traffic police have brought several measures to ensure discipline among motorists and to contain the number of road accidents. However, owing to many reasons and the growing number of vehicles, limited road infrastructure, accidents and traffic violations are on the rise, the senior official said.
The traffic police have recently introduced Artificial Intelligence-based enforcement cameras for traffic management. The Bengaluru Traffic Police have moved to mostly online enforcement and streamlined the traffic situation through strict enforcement over the last two years, a senior police officer with the Traffic Department said.
Bengaluru records highest number of narcotics cases
The city has also recorded the highest number of narcotics cases among 19 metro cities across the country. The city recorded 4,027 cases, including 570 against peddlers in 2022.
The city police embarked on a special drive against narcotics in the city during the pandemic in 2020 and have kept at it since then.
The Police Commissioner releases data of drug seizures, cases and arrests made in narcotics cases every month.
The city also has the most cases registered under The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, essentially over prostitution. The city registered 403 cases, followed by Chennai which registered 156 in 2022.
A senior official said that the high number of narcotics and prostitution cases was also an indication of better enforcement.
However, the city is also top in registering the highest number of dowry harassment cases. Of the total 1,221 dowry harassment cases registered in 2022, 964 were registered in Bengaluru alone. Patna in Bihar registered the second highest number of cases, 228.
