MUMBAI: Over 16,500 cases of cybercrime were registered in Maharashtra in the last five years, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told the Legislative Council on Thursday.
He was responding to a query asked by some opposition members.
"In the last five years, 16,512 cybercrime cases were recorded in the state, of which 4,530 cases have been cracked so far," Deshmukh said.
As many as 3,511 and 4,822 cybercrime cases were registered in 2018 and 2019 respectively, he added.
"In 2019, a total of 7,500 criminal cases were registered in Pune and as many cases related to cybercrime were recorded in that city. This underscores the gravity of the situation," he said.
Police have registered 799 and 867 cases in 2019 and 2018 respectively, including those related to obscene and derogatory messages sent to women and girls through social media and e-mails, Deshmukh said.
The state cyber cell is the "most modern one" in the country, he said, adding that around 1,000 staffers have been trained to probe the cybercrime-related cases.