Ahmedabad: In 2024, Gujarat Police registered 1,592 first information reports (FIRs) in cases related to cybercrimes, according to the recently published report ‘Crime in India 2024’ by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The data reveals that approximately half of these cases were linked to cheating (698) and forgery (97).
Decline in Cybercrime Cases
Compared to 2023, cybercrimes in Gujarat saw a noticeable dip. In 2022, the state recorded 1,417 cases, which rose to 1,995 in 2023 before declining to 1,592 in 2024. The rate of crimes, measured as cases per 1 lakh population, stood at 2.2, significantly lower than the national average of 7.3.
Breakdown by Legal Provisions
Of the total cases, 347 were registered under the Information Technology (IT) Act, while the majority (1,221) fell under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The remaining 24 cases were recorded under State and Local Laws (SLLs).
Major Types of Cybercrimes
Among the specific crimes, 80 cases were classified as frauds, including 44 online banking frauds, 10 marketing and finance frauds, four ATM frauds, two fraud calls, and two e-wallet or UPI frauds. The state police also recorded 25 cases of cyberstalking or bullying, 19 cases of fake online profiles, 13 cases of data theft, and 12 cases of violation of privacy.
Gujarat and Bihar were joint third in data theft cases with 13 each, following Maharashtra (35 cases) and Telangana (14), as per the report.
Expert Insights
City-based cybercrime experts emphasized that these figures should be viewed in the context of overall crime reporting. “A majority of cybercrime cases are recorded first as applications and are investigated due to the unique nature of the cases where the perpetrators could be in other states or even other countries,” a cybercrime expert explained.
The expert added, “Before the onslaught of digital arrests in 2025, we primarily saw financial crimes using technology. The nature of cybercrimes has also changed over the past couple of years.” Awareness remains a crucial factor in combating these crimes, the expert noted.
Motive Analysis
The NCRB report also detailed the motives behind the cybercrimes: fraud accounted for 1,053 cases, causing disrepute for 292, sexual exploitation for 77, extortion for 44, and other motives (including revenge and political advantage) for 126 cases.
Other Highlights
Additional cybercrime categories recorded in Gujarat include 35 cases of blackmailing, nine cases of identity theft, three cases of cyber terrorism, and three cases of abetment of suicide.
