Sukhpuri, Nuh, Haryana: In a boggling turn of realization, the youngsters of Haryana’s Nuh district have become involved in a collective act of abandoning the profession of cybercrime and online fraud by stoning and burning around 55 phones publicly in the sweltering heat.
This symbolic act of destroying dozens of smartphones is gathering public attention, with the youth of Sukhpuri village renouncing the practice of cybercrime and pledging to adapt to hard work and honesty to earn money. The instant virality of the video showed this unusual way of relinquishing criminal activities. Nuh has been the epicenter of major cyber-fraud activities for a considerable time, with activity increasing post-pandemic by orchestrating fake loan app schemes, job offers, and investment scams to extort money from commoners unlawfully.
In a powerful anti-addiction drive, residents of Sukhpuri village in Haryana's Nuh district collectively smashed their smartphones, labeling them as a severe, disruptive digital addiction.
— The CSR Journal (@thecsrjournal) June 19, 2026
By opting to switch back to basic keypad phones, the community aims to restore real-life… pic.twitter.com/7X0xzPXPMF
Such felonies have prompted police searches, with intelligence agencies keeping strict surveillance on the villages of Haryana. There have been mass arrests and major crackdowns under the dedicated operation called “Operation Clean,” in which police have seized a huge number of forged identity documents and used AI to find the culprits extensively. Nuh district is considered a major cybercrime hotspot, accounting for the highest volume of cybercrime cases in Haryana. Data shows that a staggering 1,346 cybercrime cases registered across India were traced back to Nuh in a single investigation in 2023.
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This act, without context, may seem confusing; however, behind it was a courageous and confident call to dismantle the long-nurtured practice of exploiting strangers. Beyond this, the action also caters to the intention of a “digital detox” to address smartphone addiction. The Indian government’s latest national surveys show that nearly 96.8% of rural youth (aged 15–29) use mobile phones, with around 95.5% owning a smartphone. Specific studies reveal that up to 35.8% to 70% of rural students exhibit signs of problematic internet or smartphone addiction, which is now on par with urban areas. The smashing of the phones aims to reclaim social life and strengthen family bonding.
This collective pledge sets a unique example of discontinuing the criminal tendencies and addictions of the youth of Sukhpuri village in the Nuh district.