Chandigarh’s 2023 crime profile: Cyber fraud, obscene content & financial scams on the rise

Chandigarh’s crime profile in 2023 was shaped by rising financial and digital offences, even as extremist violence, offences against the state and atrocities against Scheduled Tribes remained absent.

According to the latest Crime in India 2023 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Union Territory registered 23 cyber-crime cases, 312 economic offences, seven corruption cases, three environment violations and 67 crimes against senior citizens, with courts here recording stronger conviction rates than the national average in several categories.

Cybercrime, though small in absolute terms, was the sharpest sign of change. Chandigarh logged 23 cyber cases in 2023, up from 15 in 2021 but down from 27 in 2022. The break-up shows 11 cases of online fraud/cheating by personation, five cases of privacy violations under Section 66E of the IT Act, and 10 cases of obscene or sexually explicit online content transmission, including eight involving children.

Police arrested 19 persons, chargesheeted 20, and courts recorded three convictions against three acquittals, giving a police-level conviction yield of about 15 per cent but a 100 per cent conviction rate in concluded trials. The city’s chargesheeting rate stood at 31.3 per cent, broadly in line with the national average of 33.7 per cent.

Economic offences were Chandigarh’s biggest numerical burden. A total of 312 cases were registered in 2023, including 304 cases of fraud, forgery and cheating and eight of criminal breach of trust.

Police arrested 290 persons, chargesheeted 230, and courts reported 53 convictions against 109 acquittals. While the police-level conviction yield was modest at 23 per cent, courts here recorded a 40 per cent conviction rate in concluded trials, higher than the all-India average of 24.7 per cent.

Corruption cases edged up. Seven cases were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and allied IPC provisions in 2023 — two trap cases and five of criminal misconduct — compared with just two in 2022. Police arrested 17 persons, chargesheeted seven, and while departmental action was taken against public servants, no fresh convictions were recorded in 2023.

Environment-related offences remained minor. Chandigarh reported three cases — two under the Wildlife Protection Act and one under the Environment Protection Act. All were chargesheeted and disposed of, with 100 per cent conviction and no acquittals, though no arrests were made. In contrast, Puducherry logged 255 environment cases and Kerala 1,589, while the national total crossed 68,994.

Crimes against senior citizens continued to surface. Chandigarh registered 67 cases in 2023, down slightly from 74 in 2022. Police arrested 61 persons and chargesheeted 73, but only five convictions were recorded during the year. While this gave a police-level conviction ratio of barely 6.8 per cent, court trial conviction rates in concluded cases were higher at 23.1 per cent, still below the all-India level.

Atrocities against Scheduled Castes were very few, with three cases in 2023 and only one arrest; the chargesheeting rate was 33.3 per cent with no convictions. There were no cases at all under atrocities against Scheduled Tribes. Offences against the state — sedition, waging war and related provisions — and extremist or terrorist crimes were also nil in Chandigarh.

For a Union Territory of 12.4 lakh people, the absolute figures are expectedly small compared with Delhi or large states, yet the NCRB’s detailed tables show that Chandigarh’s law-and-order challenge is tilting away from violent or extremist threats and toward financial scams, corruption and online offences. While conviction rates in several heads are better than the national average, backlogs in cyber and economic crime cases and modest conviction yields at the police level underline the need for stronger investigation and faster disposal.

How Chandigarh compares with other UTs

Compared to other Union Territories, Chandigarh’s absolute counts are in the same low/small band as other small UTs (Lakshadweep, A&N, D&N Haveli & Daman & Diu, etc.) but several UTs (Delhi, Puducherry) show much larger counts because of population and metropolitan factors.

Compared with national totals, Chandigarh’s share of specialised crime chapters is minimal; national burdens are heavily skewed to large states and big metros.

At a glance

Cyber-crimes: 23 cases; 19 arrests; 20 chargesheeted; 3 convictions; 3 acquittals

Economic offences: 312 cases; 290 arrests; 230 chargesheeted; 53 convictions; 109 acquittals

Corruption offences: 7 cases (2 trap, 5 misconduct); 17 arrests; 7 chargesheeted; 3 convictions

Environment offences: 3 cases; 0 arrests; 3 chargesheeted; 3 convictions; 0 acquittals

Crimes against senior citizens: 67 cases; 61 arrests; 73 chargesheeted; 5 convictions; 0 acquittals

SC atrocities: 3 cases; 1 arrest; 33.3% chargesheeting; 0 convictions

Total special crime cases: 415