Information about the arrests has been shared with the respective police stations across the country for further action
The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has arrested 165 cybercriminals across the country over the past six months. These arrests are linked to 76 cases registered at the seven cybercrime police stations operational in the state since April 2024.
Shikha Goel, Director of TGCSB, stated that this marked the bureau’s first significant operation targeting individuals involved in cybercrimes. The arrested suspects were found connected to 795 cases in Telangana and an additional 3,357 cases nationwide.
Information about the arrests has been shared with the respective police stations across the country for further action. The operation was a result of extensive investigations carried out by TGCSB officers, supported by technical expertise from headquarters teams.
The arrested individuals hail from various states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, New Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. Many arrests were made under challenging circumstances, with officers often facing social, demographic, and geographical hurdles, including threats of mob violence and lack of cooperation from local law enforcement in some instances.
The cybercriminals were involved in diverse crimes such as part-time job scams, business investment frauds, digital frauds, loan scams, cyber slavery, hacking, advertisement frauds, impersonation, matrimonial scams, and sextortion. The suspects played various roles, ranging from mule account holders, SIM suppliers, and hackers to bank officials and travel agents.
Shikha Goel highlighted that a criminal profiling analysis of the accused revealed intriguing insights. Around 45 per cent were graduates or postgraduates, including individuals with B.Tech, MBA, and MCA degrees. Another 20 per cent had completed intermediate education, while 35 per cent had qualifications below SSC or were illiterate.
In terms of occupational backgrounds, 34 per cent of the accused were businessmen, 21 per cent self-employed, 14 per cent private employees, and another 14 per cent unemployed. The remaining included students (9 per cent), farmers and labourers (5 per cent), and government employees (3 per cent).
Age-wise, 49 per cent of the suspects were between 21 and 30 years old, 28 per cent between 31 and 40 years, 10 per cent between 41 and 50 years, 5 per cent below 20 years, and 8 per cent above 50 years.
The director commended the bureau’s teams for their diligence and persistence in tackling cybercrime, which continues to evolve and pose significant challenges to law enforcement agencies across the nation.
