HYDERABAD: National Crime Records Bureau data released on Wednesday night showed that Telangana recorded a 49% rise in cybercrime cases in 2024 compared to the previous year, while overall crime in the state increased by 18%.
Officials said fraud, cheating, extortion and sexual exploitation drove most cybercrime cases in Telangana. They added that the rise in cybercrime, along with increasing crimes against women and children, contributed significantly to the overall rise in crime across the state.
Telangana police registered 27,230 cybercrime cases in 2024, compared to 18,236 cases in 2023. However, Hyderabad recorded a 17% decline in cybercrime cases during the same period.
Fraud remained the most common cyber offence
The NCRB grouped cybercrime cases under 16 motives and detailed the nature of offences. Fraud emerged as the leading motive, with police registering 21,987 cases.
Police also registered 414 cases linked to extortion, 55 with political motives, 36 related to personal revenge, 46 involving disruption of public services and 14 piracy cases. Sexual exploitation cases also featured prominently in the data.
Fraud accounted for the largest share of offences, with 18,922 cases. Other major categories included 951 online gaming-related offences, 953 fraudulent telephone call cases, 220 cyber blackmail cases and 298 cyber stalking cases.
Investigators faced a growing workload
The data also showed the increasing burden on investigators. By 2024, police were handling 15,738 pending cybercrime cases along with newly registered complaints.
Investigators submitted final reports in 16,084 cases. Many of these fell under categories such as "true but insufficient evidence", "untraced" or "no clue".
Police filed chargesheets in 3,177 cases, including cases carried forward from previous years.
Police also arrested 2,171 people for their alleged involvement in cybercrime cases. Chargesheets named 4,359 people as accused.