Gandhinagar: In 2024, the Gujarat Police’s State Cyber Crime Cell recovered over Rs. 108 crores belonging to innocent citizens who were scammed by cyber fraudsters. Additionally, in one year, Rs. 285.12 crores were frozen, and recovery actions are still underway. Due to the high freeze and recovery rates in complaints received during the golden hours (within five hours of the fraud) after cyber fraud, the state’s police chief, Vikas Sahay, has appealed to citizens to immediately contact the helpline number 1930 in that time in case of any cyber fraud incident.

Between January 1, 2024, and December 15, 2024, a total of 1.31 lakh complaints related to cyber crimes were reported in the state. In response, the State Cyber Crime Cell took swift action and froze Rs. 285.12 crores. Of this, Rs. 108.08 crores were recovered and returned to the victims, and the process of returning the remaining funds is ongoing.

SP Dharmendra Sharma of the State Cyber Crime Cell stated that, in order to return the money to the victims, a special campaign was conducted between December 3 and December 13, 2024, through Lok Adalats. During this campaign, a total of 40,905 applications were submitted for review in the Lok Adalats across the state. The court orders for these applications are expected soon, and an additional ₹75 crores from the fraud will be returned to the citizens.

It is noteworthy that the Gujarat Police have received special recognition for their rapid actions and excellent management of the helpline. Recently, the Gujarat Police were honored with an award by Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah for their outstanding work in managing the Cyber Helpline 1930. DeshGujarat