By T N Ashok
For more than a century, policing has followed a familiar script. A crime is committed. The victim reports it. Investigators hunt down the culprit. The court delivers justice. The digital age has shattered that sequence.
By the time an online fraud is reported, the money may already have travelled through dozens of bank accounts across multiple states or even crossed international borders within minutes. Traditional policing simply cannot keep pace with cybercriminals operating at internet speed.
Recognising this reality, the southern state of Telangana, ruled by the Congress, has quietly begun experimenting with a radically different model of law enforcement—one that seeks to stop cybercrime before it occurs.
Leading this transformation is IPS officer M. Shikha Goel, Principal Secretary (Home) and Director of the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB), whose deceptively simple mantra has become the guiding philosophy of the state’s cyber strategy: “If crime changes, policing should also change.” (TGCSB – Telangana Cyber Security Bureau) It is an idea whose time may have come—not just for Telangana but for the entire country.
Prevention instead of prosecution is Shikas mantra for tackling cyber criminals and cyber bullies. India today is among the world’s fastest-growing digital economies. UPI transactions have transformed everyday commerce. Online investing has exploded. Digital lending, e-commerce and mobile banking have reached even remote villages.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals have evolved just as rapidly. Investment scams, fake trading apps, digital arrest frauds, phishing attacks, sextortion, job scams and OTP theft have become everyday occurrences. The old policing model—waiting for victims to file complaints—is proving increasingly inadequate.
Telangana’s answer has been to treat cybercrime as a public health challenge. Instead of merely investigating frauds after they happen, the state has invested heavily in educating citizens before they become victims.
In 2025 alone, TGCSB says it conducted nearly 33,000 awareness programmes across educational institutions, offices, markets, residential colonies and villages. The campaigns use workshops, rallies, digital media, influencers, community meetings and police outreach to familiarise citizens with the latest fraud techniques. (TGCSB – Telangana Cyber Security Bureau)
The numbers suggest it is working. Every awareness campaign eventually faces one difficult question: Does it actually work? According to Telangana’s own data, the answer appears encouraging.
Reported cybercrime declined by about 15% between 2024 and 2025, while financial losses reduced substantially. The state also says more than ₹342 crore has been refunded to victims over two years through faster reporting and coordinated recovery mechanisms. Digital arrest scams—a rapidly growing menace nationwide—have shown a marked decline following sustained awareness drives. These figures suggest that prevention, when pursued consistently, can be as important as investigation.
The biggest surprise: Young Indians are the prime targets; Popular perception portrays cyber fraud as largely affecting elderly citizens unfamiliar with technology. Reality tells a different story. The most vulnerable group increasingly comprises people between 26 and 36 years—educated, digitally connected professionals with disposable incomes and a willingness to invest online.
This demographic is constantly exposed to: fake investment platforms, cryptocurrency frauds, stock market “gurus”, work-from-home offers, instant loan apps, AI-generated impersonation scams
Ironically, technological confidence often breeds complacency. Cybercriminals exploit trust, urgency and greed rather than technological ignorance. Is Telangana the first? Not entirely. India has several impressive cybercrime initiatives.
The Union Home Ministry established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in 2018, which oversees the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the national 1930 helpline. States including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi Police have launched awareness campaigns and specialised cyber police stations.
Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Police have also earned recognition for conducting hundreds of cyber-awareness sessions. What distinguishes Telangana is not merely awareness, but the scale, frequency and institutionalisation of preventive policing.
Rather than treating awareness as an annual Cyber Safety Week, Telangana has attempted to make it a year-round policing function. Campaigns such as Cyber Jaagrookta Diwas, Fraud Ka Full Stop, and community outreach programmes are designed to continuously update citizens on evolving fraud tactics.
The world is moving the same way. Telangana’s strategy mirrors trends emerging across advanced economies.
The United States relies heavily on public advisories issued by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), encouraging citizens to recognise phishing, ransomware and business-email compromise before losses occur.
The United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre runs nationwide campaigns such as “Cyber Aware”, promoting simple behavioural changes like password managers and two-factor authentication.
France has expanded cyber-awareness programmes through ANSSI while integrating cybersecurity education into schools and public institutions. Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) regularly publishes citizen alerts and conducts public awareness drives. Spain and Italy similarly combine specialised cyber police units with extensive public education campaigns, recognising that citizens themselves form the first line of cyber defence.
The common thread across these countries is unmistakable: cybercrime cannot be defeated by police alone. It requires informed citizens.
A blueprint for the Centre? There is a compelling case for the Union government to adopt elements of Telangana’s approach on a national scale. Cyber fraud has become one of India’s fastest-growing criminal threats. The challenge is no longer confined to metropolitan cities.
Small towns, rural districts and first-time internet users are increasingly being targeted by organised criminal syndicates operating across state and international borders. Awareness campaigns need to become as ubiquitous as pulse polio drives or road safety campaigns.
Every school, college, bank, panchayat office and corporate workplace should receive periodic cyber-safety training. Every citizen should instinctively know two emergency numbers: 1930 for reporting cyber financial fraud. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal for filing complaints quickly.
Time matters. The first “golden hour” after a fraud is often the difference between recovering money and losing it forever.
The future of policing; Perhaps the greatest contribution of ShikhaGoel’s initiative is philosophical rather than administrative. For decades, policing has measured success by arrests. The digital age demands a different metric.
The best cybercrime is the one that never occurs. Every fraud prevented saves not only money but emotional trauma, public trust and countless investigative hours. Technology has transformed crime beyond recognition. Policing must evolve just as quickly.
Telangana’s experiment suggests that the future police officer may spend as much time educating citizens as chasing criminals. That may well be the most effective crime-fighting strategy India has seen in years.
Telangana says it conducted around 33,000 cyber-awareness programmes in 2025, covering schools, colleges, offices, villages and public spaces.
The state reports significant reductions in digital arrest scams, complaint volumes and financial losses through awareness campaigns combined with enforcement. Reported cybercrime fell by roughly 15% between 2024 and 2025, while financial losses also declined sharply. More than ₹342 crore was refunded to victims over two years.
Contrary to popular belief, senior citizens are not the largest victims. Young professionals aged roughly 26-36 years, comfortable with digital payments and investment apps, constitute one of the most vulnerable groups. (IPA Service)
