TIRUPATI: Improved recovery of defrauded amounts marked Tirupati district’s cybercrime record in 2025, despite a rise in online fraud losses and a reduction in the number of cases, according to the annual crime report.

District Superintendent of Police L Subba Rayudu presented the report at a press conference at the District Police Office here on Sunday.

He said the district registered 186 cybercrime cases during the year, down from 241 cases in 2024, reflecting a decline in reported incidents even as the scale of financial fraud increased.

Cyber fraud losses rose from Rs 12.31 crore in 2024 to Rs 14.45 crore in 2025.

However, recoveries improved significantly, with police recovering and refunding Rs 3.53 crore to victims in 2025, compared with Rs 2.30 crore in the previous year.

The SP attributed the improved recovery to quicker response times, better coordination with banks and effective use of cyber forensics to freeze fraudulent transactions at an early stage.

Rayudu said Tirupati district also topped the State in recovering lost mobile phones through the Mobile Hunt application.

Police traced 2,003 phones worth about Rs 4 crore in 2024, while recoveries increased to 2,485 phones valued at Rs 4.97 crore in 2025.

The SP further revealed that the district registered a total of 9,253 cases in 2025, a marginal increase of 0.71 percent over the 9,118 cases recorded in 2024. Several major crime categories showed a decline, with bodily offences reducing from 1,095 cases to 1,029. White-collar crime cases fell marginally from 571 to 563.

Property offences, however, increased from 1,052 cases in 2024 to 1,109 in 2025. Road accident cases rose slightly from 1,143 to 1,145, while cases booked under other IPC and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions saw a sharp increase from 2,257 to 3,202.

Rayudu said sustained court monitoring resulted in convictions in 23 serious cases during the year.

Of these, 11 ended in life imprisonment, while the remaining cases attracted sentences ranging from five to 20 years. The convictions included 10 POCSO and rape cases, nine murder cases, one robbery case and three other grave offences.

Road fatalities declined from 541 in 2024 to 513 in 2025, even as enforcement was intensified, with e-challans rising from 1.10 lakh to 1.65 lakh and fines collected increasing from Rs 6.63 crore to Rs 9.86 crore.

Measures such as identification of 48 accident-prone black spots and deployment of highway patrol vehicles were implemented.

On enforcement and prevention, the SP said 68 NDPS cases were registered in 2025, with 762.62 kg of ganja seized and 179 persons arrested. Preventive Detention Act provisions were invoked against 16 habitual offenders. Police also booked 158 illegal liquor cases and seized 690.74 litres of liquor.

The SP said 8,469 CCTV cameras installed at 1,659 locations aided crime detection and investigation, while drones were used for traffic regulation, crowd control and crime prevention.

Police also resolved 4,501 of the 4,639 grievances received through the Public Grievance Redressal System during the year.

Additional SPs Ravi Manoharachary, Srinivasulu, Nagabhushanam and Special Branch CI Vikram were present.