Cyber crimes push overall crime rate in Telangana by 9% in 2023: DGP

The overall crime rate in Telangana has increased by nearly nine per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year, mainly because of a 17.6 per cent jump in cyber crime, Director General of Police Ravi Gupta said on Friday.

Addressing an annual press conference here, the official said 2023 has been an incident-free year compared to the previous one, though it was quite hectic for the police due to the legislative assembly polls held recently.

A total of 2.13 lakh cases were registered by the police during the current year -- up by 8.97 per cent compared to last year, while 16,339 cyber crime cases were booked in 2023 as against 13,895 last year, which is an increase of 17.59 per cent, a press release said.

During this year, the value of total property lost was Rs 151.78 crore, of which goods worth Rs 80.81 crore (53.82 per cent) were recovered, as compared to 50 per cent last year, the release said.

A total of 1,362 cases of kidnapping/abduction were registered during the current year, the release said, adding that an analysis found that only nine were committed for ransom.

As many as 2,284 rape cases were registered in 2023, the release added.

At the press conference, Gupta, replying to a query on Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's comments that the previous BRS government bought 22 Toyota Land Cruisers hoping that former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would come back to power again, said, "Vehicles were purchased as per security requirements."

Talking about policing with regard to the drug trade, the DGP said the police is following a "zero tolerance" policy on this issue and will be extremely tough on those dealing with narcotics. Anyone engaged with drugs, be it selling, purchasing, facilitating or possessing, would be dealt with stringently as per applicable laws of the land, he added.