Vizag seems to be emerging as the cyber crime capital of the State. The city stood second in cyber crime, next only to Bengaluru, among the 53 mega cities in the country, the National Crime Records Bureau’s 2012 report reveals. And, powering it to the top are its young generation of Net addicts.
According to the report, 153 cases were recorded under the IT Act in Vizag in 2012, compared to 107 the previous year. Delhi with 73 cases, Mumbai 33, Chennai 15, Kolkata 45 and Hyderabad 42 are far behind the steel city which registered a “positive growth” of 43% in cyber crime. Hyderabad, on the other hand, had a negative growth rate of 37.3% as the cases booked under the IT Act in 2011 were 67.
Speaking to Express, Commissioner of Police, Visakhapatnam, B Sivadhar Reddy, downplayed the stats, pointing out that police had been proactive in filing cases under the IT Act to send a strong message to the public. “Visakhapatnam has more number of IT companies after Hyderabad and computer literacy has increased rapidly in the last few years,” he observed. Most of the cases booked in Vizag, about 89 of the 153, are related to eve-teasing and sexual harassment. Overall, Andhra Pradesh, for a change, did not top the list of cyber crimes in the country. That dubious distinction went to Maharashtra. At the same time, cyber crimes under the IT Act are still on the rise in the State with a growth rate of 22.9%. The total number of cases under the IT Act shot up to 429 in 2012 from 349 in 2011. Most of those arrested under the IT Act (Cyber Crime) are aged between 18 and 30.
As many as 1,486 were arrested under the Act across the nation in 2012 and of them, 908 (61 per cent) are in this age group. In the State, 170 were arrested under the IT Act and of them 125(73 per cent) are aged 18-30.
This is in keeping with the general nature of the cases. Of the 429 cases booked in the State, 145 pertain to eve-teasing or sexual harassment. Vijayawada too made it to the list with seven cases in 2012, exactly the same as in 2011.