The coastal State witnessed an annual quantum jump of 30.03% in cybercrimes with the reporting of such offences in the State bettering the national average amid the Coronavirus lockdown.

The rate of cyber crimes was 4.2 per lakh population in the state, higher than the national rate of 3.7, according to the National Crime Control Bureau (NCRB)’s ‘Crime in India 2020’ report released recently.

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A total of 1,931 cyber crimes were reported in 2020, an increase of 30.03 per cent from 1,485 in the previous year and staggering 129 per cent from 843 in 2018, NCRB report stated.

The majorities of cybercrimes reported during the lockdown and unlock phases pertained to online payment and UPI transactions. People were deceived as they shared the one time password (OTP) to fraudsters, said police officials.

The State also registered one of the highest rates of murders and attempts to murder in the country, as well as the biggest crime rate per lakh population in cases of hit and run, dacoity and criminal intimidation.

Odisha is the third highest in the country with 524 cases of publication and transmission of obscene or sexually-explicit acts in an electronic form. With 220 cases, it recorded the highest incidents of defamation, morphing and indecent representation of women.

The state is in the fourth position in the number of cyber frauds with 1,079 cases, including 132 credit or debit card fraud and 549 online banking scams. A total of 369 people were arrested for cyber crimes.

According to the NCRB, 1,470 people were murdered in the state with a rate of 3.2 per lakh population, the fourth highest in the country. The state reported 4,135 incidents of attempts to murder with a rate of 9.1 per lakh population, the third highest in the country.

The report stated that 3,735 hit-and-run cases, involving 3,874 victims, occurred in Odisha last year, recording the highest rate of 8.2 in the country.

There were 307 incidents of dacoity involving 321 victims with the biggest rate of 0.7 in the nation. It is second after Delhi in robberies, registering a 4.8 crime rate per lakh population with 2,162 cases.

A total of 3,524 incidents of forgery, cheating and fraud occurred last year. The state topped the list under the category of criminal intimidation as it recorded a rate of 48.4 crimes per lakh population with 22,027 cases.

Moreover, 1,179 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, of which 1,031 incidents were for possession of drugs for trafficking.