Bengaluru: Karnataka continued to report the most cyber crimes across India, with Bengaluru alone accounting for over half of digital offenses in metropolitan cities, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2024 report released on Wednesday.
Karnataka reported 21,993 cyber crimes in 2024, a slight increase over the 21,889 cases reported a year ago. Bengaluru reported 17,561 cyber crimes in 2024, compared to 17,631 in 2023.
The cyber crime rate in Karnataka was 32.2 per lakh people, while the toll evasion rate was 22.1%. Bengaluru reported a much higher cyber crime rate at 206.6 per lakh people. The dismissal rate was 24.2%, with 5,096 accused charged.
Overall, a total of 34,958 cyber crimes were reported across India in 2024. Of these, Bengaluru alone reported 17,631. Mumbai came second with 4,939 cases, followed by Hyderabad (4,009), Chennai (1,882), Pune (1,504) and Lucknow (1,292).
Most of the cases reported in Bengaluru were related to computer offenses (17,310). Among them, 16,657 related to impersonation fraud using computer resources, punishable under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act. Fraud was the motive listed in most cases (16,842).
The report also states that 14,184 cases in the city were pending from the previous year (2023). Some 13,929 cases were found to have insufficient evidence, could not be traced or had no data. About 3,640 cases were dismissed without trial.
Police officers in Bengaluru attribute the city’s high cybercrime figures to increased awareness and robust reporting mechanisms. The city has 11 dedicated cybercrime police stations — one for each of the 11 police zones — besides one at the police commissioner’s office. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also runs a specialized cyber crime wing to investigate high-value cases.
