As we conclude the ‘Caught in a Web’ series on rising cybercrimes and challenges in ensuring justice to victims, these are some excerpts from a conversation with the man tasked to take this challenge head on - Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda.
Bengaluru has topped the charts in cybercrime cases in the country for many years now. In fact it accounted for over half of all cases registered in India in 2022 and the numbers are only rising. Why do you think there is such an upward trend in cybercrimes?
Cybercrimes made up 23% of all crimes registered in the city in 2023, even as physical crimes are on a downward trend. In our assessment, this trend will continue and white collar, contactless crimes will only increase. Since we started registering cybercrime cases in all police stations, and not just in the Cybercrime, Economic Offences and Narcotics (CEN) stations, reporting has increased. Though it bolsters our crime numbers, it offers a realistic picture of the crime scene.
