Chandrababu Naidu,Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, often self-praise as a tech-savvy and forward-thinking administrator. But nearly a year into his tenure, the data tells a damning story that his government would rather not discuss: cybercrime in Andhra Pradesh is rising sharply, fraud dominates the crime landscape, and ordinary citizens — women, children, the elderly, and rural residents are being left dangerously exposed.
Andhra Pradesh recorded a significant rise in cybercrimes, with 2,528 cases reported in 2024 against 2,341 in 2023, an 8% increase that reflects not just a national trend, but a specific and avoidable failure of state-level policing, cyber infrastructure, and public awareness. Fraud was the dominant motive, accounting for 1,274 of the total cases, followed by extortion at 81, sexual exploitation at 62, and political motives at a troubling 272 cases.
In cybercrimes against women alone, AP registered 642 cases — including 146 cases of cyber stalking and cyber bullying of women, 29 cases of cyber pornography, and 12 cases of cyber blackmailing and threatening. These are not abstract statistics. These are daughters, wives, and working women in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Guntur, and Kurnool whose dignity was violated in the digital space while the government was busy with bond roadshows and investor summits.
A further 55 cases of cybercrimes against children were registered, with 38 of those relating to cyber pornography or publishing obscene material depicting children. The protection of the most vulnerable has simply not been a priority.
The TDP government’s response has been cosmetic at best. Chandrababu Naidu speaks about the “Sunrise AP” vision. He can quote investment figures and speak at global tech forums. But a government that cannot protect its citizens in the digital realm cannot secure their bank accounts from vishing calls, cannot shield its women from online predators, cannot stop fraud networks from preying on pensioners and first-generation smartphone users.
What Andhra Pradesh urgently needs is not more IT policy announcements or Smart City press releases. It needs dedicated cybercrime courts to fast-track prosecution. It needs district-level cyber police stations staffed with trained personnel, not postings given as administrative rewards. It needs aggressive public awareness campaigns in Telugu, in rural mandals, among women’s self-help groups about OTP fraud, fake job scams, and digital arrest rackets. And it needs political will at the very top to treat the digital safety of ordinary citizens as seriously as it treats the comfort of visiting industrialists.
