New Delhi, March 12 (HS): The central government informed the Rajya Sabha that cases of digital arrest and related cyber crimes in the country have increased threefold over the past three years. The government also stated that as part of the measures taken to tackle cyber crimes, over ₹4,386 crore has been saved from more than 1.336 million complaints.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar presented statistics on digital arrests and recorded cases of blackmail on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. According to the data, in 2022, 39,925 such incidents were reported on the NCRP, resulting in a total fraud amount of ₹91.14 crore. In 2023, 60,676 such crimes were reported, with total fraud amounting to ₹339.03 crore.

The statistics indicate that by 2024, the number of such cases nearly tripled to 1,23,672. During this period, the amount of fraud increased 21 times to ₹1,935.51 crore. Meanwhile, until February 28, 2025, just in two months, 17,718 cases of digital arrests and related cyber crimes were recorded, resulting in a fraud of ₹210.21 crore.

He stated that the central government has taken measures to strengthen the framework for comprehensively and collaboratively addressing cyber crimes, including digital arrest scams. He mentioned that over ₹4,386 crore has been saved from more than 1.336 million complaints recorded on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) actively identified and blocked over 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrests.

As of February 28, 2025, the Indian government has blocked over 7.81 lakh SIM cards and 2,08,469 IMEIs reported by police officials.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar