Mumbai: The detection rate of cases registered by the Maharashtra cyber cell in 2018 has hardly crossed 30 per cent, reveals data. Moreover, cases of cyber fraud have topped the list among various cyber-related offences like identity theft and debit/credit card frauds.
The data released by the Maharashtra cyber cell has painted an alarming picture of a two fold increase in the number of cyber crimes registered in the last five years.
While 1,879 cases of cyber crime were reported in 2014, over 3,733 cases were reported last year. The data also revealed there is an increasing gap between the number of cases registered and number of cases detected. Last year, cyber police registered 3,733 complaints relating to cyber crime, but police were able to solve only 994 of them.
The preceding year, in 2017, gap was more concerning with 4,035 cases registered but only 1,041 cases were detected. Out of 14,222 cases registered under Information Technology Act along with Indian Penal Code and Special law cases, since the year 2012, till last year, only 4,389 cases have been detected.
In a bid to increase detection and conviction rate of cyber crimes in the state and the city, the Mumbai police have organised five days cyber crime training workshop for policemen and have set up a specialised cyber crime investigation units at each police station in the city. An officer from the cyber police attributed the rise in the number of cases to more people coming forward to register complaints.
“Detection and conviction rate is a problem that cyber police is still tackling. However, over the last year, more than 1,500 policemen were trained officers at the police station-level and have a separate cyber cell in every police station. With this, we are expecting both detection and conviction rates to improve,” said the officer.
Last year, a whopping 1,096 cases of cyber fraud were registered, out of which only 128 cases were detected. Similarly, out of 446 cases of debit/credit card frauds, a mere 23 cases were solved. Other cases like cheating, fake profile and defamation had a disappointing detection rate as well.