Delhi Police’s month-long ‘Operation CyHawk’ has ripped the mask off one of the country’s most deeply entrenched cyber-fraud ecosystems, tightening the noose around criminals who have been draining citizens of their hard-earned money with shocking ease.
Despite the growing presence of cyber cells across India, this category of crime shows no signs of slowing down.
If anything, fraudsters have grown bolder, more organised, and technologically more agile. Operation CyHawk has once again highlighted a worrying truth—India is losing the cyber war far faster than it is fighting it.
Backed by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Delhi Police spent weeks mapping cyber hotspots, analysing mule accounts, tracking suspicious digital footprints, and linking thousands of mobile numbers to complaint trails.
The intelligence work culminated in citywide enforcement led by Special CPs Madhup Tewari and Anil Shukla, with joint coordination from senior officers.
The sweep resulted in more than 4,300 suspects being rounded up, with 877 arrests, 509 BNSS notices, 360 new FIRs, and 160 older cases revived through fresh evidence.
Over 3,700 NCRP complaints were tied to mule accounts, and cyber transactions worth over ₹1,000 crore were traced back to Delhi-based modules.
Illegal call centres running scams—from fake customer care to investment traps—were dismantled, and a vast haul of digital devices and financial ledgers was seized.
But beyond the numbers lies a deeper concern.
Cybercrime Is Evolving Faster Than Our Policing Framework
India’s cybercrime landscape has dramatically changed over the past decade. The earliest scams—where fraudsters used stolen photos of women to lure men into online friendships before impersonating customs officials seeking “parcel clearance fees”—were just the beginning. Thousands fell victim to these traps.
Today, scams are far more sophisticated, far more automated, and far more widespread. Citizens are losing life savings at the click of a link or the answer to a phone call.
A Constitutional Duty Ignored for Too Long
The Constitution clearly states that protecting citizens from crime is a primary duty of the state. Yet cyber criminals continue to siphon off billions while law enforcement struggles with outdated tools against a hyper-evolving threat.
With Operation CyHawk revealing the depth of the rot, it is now impossible to ignore the urgent need for a nationally coordinated, technologically advanced, and aggressively implemented strategy to curb cybercrime.
India must train its police forces in advanced digital forensics, strengthen inter-state coordination, modernise cyber labs, and launch a sustained crackdown that matches the speed and sophistication of these criminal networks.
Without a concrete, nationwide plan, India risks allowing cybercrime to become its most uncontrollable—and most financially devastating—form of criminality.
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