HYDERABAD: The cyber crime rate in Rachakonda Commissionerate has shot up by 66 per cent this year over last year while the overall crime rate showed an upward trend with a 19 per cent jump. Speaking to the media after the customary year-end crime review, Rachakonda Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said on Saturday that what was heartening was that the conviction rate has gone up to 267, the highest in Telangana for the fourth consecutive year in 2022.
Of the 11,104 cases that were disposed of, 6503 cases were convicted which is 59 per cent.
The PD cell has also done commendably well as it has identified repeat offenders and detained them under PD Act by collecting all the required data and documents.
In 2021, 171 persons were booked under the PD Act, and in 2022, the number has gone up to 204 for repeat offences like property thefts, human trafficking, sexual assaults, drug peddling, white collar offences, rowdy sheeters among others.
As regards crimes against women, the number of rape cases showed a decline by 1.3 percent but other crimes against them like domestic violence, molestation and harassment increased. As many as 372 rape cases were registered and of them in respect of 352 cases, the accused were known to the victims.
The surge by 66 per cent in cybercrime is a cause for worry. Cybercrime ACP Harinath said: “The crimes related to insurance, cheating, dating, customer care, Anydesk, Quick Support apps among others. There were also job or visa frauds, social media complaints, phishing or credit or debit card frauds, loan frauds, Nigerian gift or lottery frauds, and a few more.
63 accused are foreigners
Among the registered cybercrime offences, 63 accused are identified as foreigners and interstate offenders who were apprehended, and a total of `5,54,70,000 was seized from them, and a sum of `3,12,25,000 was refunded to the victims.