Lok Sabha Question No. 4144 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-29
Subject: Cases Against Social Media Fraudsters
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Anil Firojiya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4144

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 29 TH  MARCH, 2022/ CHAITRA 08, 1944 (SAKA)

CASES AGAINST SOCIAL MEDIA FRAUDSTERS

4144. SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  any  action  has  been  taken  by  the  Government  against  the fraudsters who are blackmailing people and extorting money by showing them obscene videos through video calls and other social media platforms;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)  the  details  and  the  number of cases registered in this regard, so far, State-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a) to (c): 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of  India.  The  States/UTs  are  primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes  through  their  law  enforcement  agencies.  The  law  enforcement agencies  take  legal  action  as  per  the  provisions  of  law  against  persons involved in misuse of social media for blackmailing and extorting money. The  Central  Government  supplements  the  initiatives  of  the  States/UTs through  advisories  and  financial  assistance  under  various  schemes  for their capacity building.

## LS.US.Q.NO.4144 FOR 29.03.2022

To  strengthen  the  mechanism  to  deal  with  cyber  crimes  in  a comprehensive  and  coordinated  manner,  the  Central  Government  has taken  steps  for  spreading  awareness  about  cyber  crimes;  issuance  of alerts/ advisories; capacity building/training of law enforcement personnel/ prosecutors/judicial officers; improving cyber forensic facilities, etc. The Government has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. The Government  has  launched  the  National  Cyber  Crime  Reporting  Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) to enable the public to report all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported on this portal are routed automatically to the  respective  State/UT  law  enforcement  agency  for  further  handling  as per  the  provisions  of  law.  A  toll-free  Helpline  number  '1930'  has  been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes statistical  data  on  crimes  in  its  publication  'Crime  in  India'.    The  latest published report is for the year 2020.   As per the data published by  the NCRB, State-wise details of cyber crime cases registered under the head Cyber Blackmailing/Threatening (involving communication  devices as medium/ target) for the year 2018, 2019 and 2020 are at the Annexure.

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## State/UT-wise Cases Registered (CR), Cases Chargesheeted (CCS), Cases Convicted (CON), Persons Arrested (PAR), Persons Chargesheeted (PCS) and Persons Convicted (PCV)

## under the crime head 'Cyber Blackmailing/Threatening'under cyber crimes for the year 2018 - 2020

| No   | State/UT                    | 2018   | 2018   | 2018   | 2018   | 2018   |     |     |     |     |     |       |      | 2019   | 2019   | 2019     | 2019   | 2019   |
|------|-----------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------|------|--------|--------|----------|--------|--------|
| No   | State/UT                    | CR     | CCS    | CON    | PAR    | PCS    | PCV | CR  | CCS | CON | PAR | PCS   | PCV  | CR CCS | CON    | 2020 PAR | PCS    | PCV    |
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh              | 25     | 23     | 0      | 16     | 29     | 0   | 34  | 10  | 0   | 13  | 13    | 0    | 32 11  | 0      | 11       | 15     | 0      |
| 2    | Arunachal Pradesh           | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 0      | 0 0    | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 3    | Assam                       | 29     | 2      | 0      | 28     | 2      | 0   | 104 | 6   | 0   | 104 | 6     | 0    | 2 0    | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 4    | Bihar                       | 3      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 3   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 1      | 1 0    | 3        | 1      | 0      |
| 5    | Chhattisgarh                | 3      | 2      | 0      | 5      | 5      | 0   | 5   | 3   | 0   | 11  | 11    | 0    | 3 1    | 0      | 2        | 1      | 0      |
| 6    | Goa                         | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 0 0    | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 7    | Gujarat                     | 6      | 5      | 0      | 8      | 8      | 0   | 8   | 8   | 0   | 15  | 17    | 0    | 21     | 16 0   | 24       | 24     | 0      |
| 8    | Haryana                     | 7      | 4      | 0      | 7      | 7      | 0   | 3   | 5   | 0   | 5   | 5     | 0    | 1 0    | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 9    | Himachal Pradesh            | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0 0   |      | 0      | 0 0    | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 10   | Jharkhand                   | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 11  | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0 0   |      | 11     | 6 6    | 6        | 6      | 6      |
| 11   | Karnataka                   | 2      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0 0   |      | 0      | 2 0    | 0        | 2      | 0      |
| 12   | Kerala                      | 6      | 7      | 0      | 13     | 15     | 0   | 10  | 4   | 0   | 4   | 4 0   | 1    | 0      | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 13   | Madhya Pradesh              | 20     | 18     | 0      | 16     | 18     | 0   | 6   | 7   | 1   | 7   | 7 1   |      | 9      | 7 0    | 8        | 9      | 0      |
| 14   | Maharashtra                 | 12     | 8      | 0      | 22     | 14     | 0   | 33  | 7   | 0   | 16  | 11 0  | 27   | 10     | 0      | 19       | 11     | 0      |
| 15   | Manipur                     | 1      | 0      | 0      | 2      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0 0   | 1    | 0      | 0      | 1        | 0      | 0      |
| 16   | Meghalaya                   | 11     | 0      | 0      | 2      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 2      | 0      | 1        | 0      | 0      |
| 17   | Mizoram                     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0 0   |      | 0      | 0 0    | 0 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 18   | Nagaland                    | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0 0  | 0      | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 19   | Odisha                      | 9      | 2      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0   | 5   | 5   | 0   | 5   | 5     | 0    | 2      | 1 0    | 1        | 1      | 0      |
| 20   | Punjab                      | 14     | 4      | 0      | 20     | 6      | 0   | 10  | 2   | 0   | 8   | 2     | 0    | 6      | 7 0    | 12       | 9      | 0      |
| 21   | Rajasthan                   | 6      | 2      | 0      | 3      | 3      | 0   | 16  | 5   | 0   | 8   | 8     | 0    | 26     | 8 0    | 9        | 9      | 0      |
| 22   | Sikkim                      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 0 0    | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 23   | Tamil Nadu                  | 9      | 4      | 0      | 7      | 5      | 0   | 15  | 1   | 0   | 30  | 2     | 0 43 | 5      | 0      | 54       | 7      | 0      |
| 24   | Telangana                   | 16     | 6      | 0      | 6      | 7      | 0   | 23  | 14  | 1   | 15  | 14    | 1    | 49     | 17 0   | 14       | 22     | 0      |
| 25   | Tripura                     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 1   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 0      | 0 0    | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 26   | Uttar Pradesh               | 12     | 10     | 1      | 19     | 17     | 2   | 51  | 24  | 0   | 41  | 31    | 0    | 44 28  | 0      | 36       | 35     | 0      |
| 27   | Uttarakhand                 | 9      | 2      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0   | 12  | 4   | 0   | 4   | 4 0   |      | 0      | 0      | 0 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 28   | West Bengal                 | 15     | 2      | 0      | 10     | 2      | 0   | 5   | 1   | 0   | 6   | 1 0   | 16   |        | 1 0    | 2        | 1      | 0      |
|      | TOTAL STATE(S)              | 216    | 101    | 1      | 188    | 142    | 2   | 355 | 106 | 2   | 292 | 141   | 2    | 297    | 121 6  | 203      | 153    | 6      |
| 29   | A&N Islands                 | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 1   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 0      | 0 0    | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 30   | Chandigarh                  | 0      | 1      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0 1  | 0      | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 31   | D&N Haveli and Daman & Diu+ | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     |      | 0      | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 32   | Delhi                       | 3      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 5   | 2   | 0   | 2   | 0 2   | 0    | 0 0    | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0      |
| 33   | Jammu & Kashmir*            | 4      | 0      | 0      | 0      |        | 0   | 1   |     | 0   | 2   | 2 0   |      |        | 0      | 0        | 0 0    |        |
|      |                             |        |        |        |        | 0      |     | -   | 1   |     |     |       |      | 5      | 0      |          |        | 0      |
| 34   | Ladakh                      | -      | -      | -      | -      | -      | -   |     | -   | -   | -   | -     | -    | 0      | 0      | 0        | 0 0    | 0      |
| 35   | Lakshadweep                 | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0 0   |      | 0      | 0      | 0 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 36   | Puducherry                  | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0   | 0     | 0    | 0 6    | 0 0    | 0 0      | 0 0 0  | 0 0    |
|      | TOTAL UT(S)                 | 7      | 1      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0   | 7   | 3   | 0   | 4   | 4     | 0    |        |        | 203      | 0 153  | 6      |
|      | TOTAL (ALL INDIA)           | 223    | 102    | 1      | 189    | 143    | 2   | 362 | 109 | 2   | 296 | 145 2 | 303  | 121    |        | 6        |        |        |

Source: Crime in India

Note : '+' Combined data of erstwhile D&N Haveli UT and Daman & Diu UT during 2018 & 2019

*' Data of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir State including Ladakh during during 2018 & 2019