Fraud remains the leading driver of cybercrime in Bihar. In 2024, the state registered 3,771 cases attributed to fraud, compared with 1,167 linked to personal revenge and 842 attributed to emotional motives such as anger.

Yet the national comparison reveals a striking imbalance.According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India 2024 report, Bihar accounted for 1,167 of the 1,850 cybercrime cases recorded nationwide under the category of “personal revenge”, more than 63 per cent of the total. It also contributed 842 of the 1,336 cases attributed to emotional motives such as anger.

By contrast, Bihar’s 3,771 fraud cases represented only about 5 per cent of the 73,987 fraud-related cybercrimes recorded across India.The figures point to a distinctive pattern. While financial fraud remains the largest category in absolute terms, Bihar accounts for a disproportionately large share of the country’s cybercrimes in which personal revenge or anger is identified as the primary motive.The statistics do not explain why this disparity exists.

But they raise an important question: why does Bihar account for such a large proportion of India’s recorded cybercrime cases driven by personal grievances rather than financial gain? Recent incidents offer a glimpse into how such conflicts are unfolding.

From the circulation of intimate images following marital disputes to the use of AI-generated explicit material to damage a woman’s reputation, digital platforms are increasingly becoming tools of retaliation. The challenge is to understand what the data reveals, and what it cannot, about the relationship between personal conflict and cybercrime.Bihar registered 6,380 cybercrime cases in 2024, a nearly 43 per cent increase from the 4,450 recorded the previous year.

Police officials attribute part of that rise to improved reporting mechanisms and the conversion of complaints into formal FIRs. Whether that also explains the state’s unusually high share of revenge-related cybercrime, however, remains unclear.The trend has continued into 2026.

In June, cyber police in Katihar arrested Dayanand Kumar for allegedly uploading private and objectionable photographs and videos of his wife on social media. Investigators said he suspected her of having an extramarital affair and acted out of anger.

Following a complaint by his wife, he was arrested and later reportedly described his actions as a mistake.Police records suggest the problem extends far beyond isolated cases. Between August and early October, the Bihar police received more than 100 complaints involving threats to circulate private photographs or AI-edited images.

Officers said roughly 80 per cent of the complaints involved people who had previously been in intimate relationships. Following break-ups, some allegedly used AI and deepfake tools to transform ordinary photographs into explicit images, and threatened to publish them online.In Muzaffarpur, police registered a case in October after an AI-generated objectionable video of a young woman was allegedly created and circulated.

According to the complaint, the video reached her prospective in-laws and contributed to the collapse of her engagement. Four siblings were named as accused.

Investigators said the material had been fabricated and shared to damage the woman’s reputation.Such incidents illustrate how digital abuse can transform a private grievance into a public humiliation. A relationship ends, a family dispute escalates or a perceived slight breeds resentment.

Social media then offers an immediate means of retaliation, with consequences that can extend far beyond the original conflict. The emergence of AI tools has amplified the threat.

Creating manipulated or fabricated images no longer requires advanced technical expertise.The offences extend well beyond deepfakes. Fake profiles, morphed photographs, cyberstalking, online threats and digital defamation can all be used to intimidate, harass or discredit a target.

During the first half of 2026, Bihar’s Cybercrime and Security Unit registered 475 FIRs and arrested 103 people in cases involving the misuse of social media. Officials said many involved the harassment of women following relationship breakdowns or personal disputes.The contrast with financial fraud remains striking.

Across India, fraud accounted for 73,987 cybercrime cases in 2024, making it by far the dominant category. Bihar’s contribution amounted to roughly 5 per cent of that total.

In contrast, the state accounted for around 63 per cent of all recorded cases nationwide under the categories of personal revenge and anger.Those comparisons, however, require careful interpretation. They describe the distribution of recorded cases rather than any inherent propensity to commit cybercrime.

Variations in reporting practices, police registration patterns and the classification of motives may all influence the figures. Nor is it clear that personal revenge and emotional motives, such as anger, are entirely distinct categories; that depends on how the NCRB classifies offences.Even with those caveats, the concentration is difficult to ignore.

Why does Bihar account for such a large share of the country’s recorded cybercrimes linked to personal revenge and anger? Are such disputes more likely to be reported and registered as cybercrime in the state?

Or are digital platforms increasingly being used to settle personal scores?The available data cannot answer those questions. What they do show is how readily personal conflicts can migrate online.

A threat to publish an intimate photograph can become a tool of coercion. A manipulated image can be used to undermine a woman’s standing in her family or community.

A failed relationship can evolve into a sustained campaign of harassment. Long after the dispute itself has ended, the digital consequences may persist.Fraud for financial gain remains the principal driver of cybercrime in Bihar, as it does across India.

Yet the state’s extraordinary share of cases attributed to revenge and anger highlights a different and growing dimension of the problem: the use of digital platforms to punish, shame and retaliate against people known to the offender. The numbers do not yet explain why Bihar stands apart.

They do, however, make a compelling case for examining how private grievances are increasingly becoming public digital offences.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends