Ludhiana: A string of extortion calls from a foreign number has set off alarm bells in Jagraon, with police suspecting the caller to be a cybercriminal attempting to extort money by impersonating a gangster.According to sources, one of the businessmen, who runs operations in both Jagraon and Raikot, approached police earlier this week after receiving a chilling demand over the phone. A case has been registered, and police are now tracing digital footprints to unmask the impersonator behind the threats.Sources further said that around the same time, another businessman from the area informed the police that he received a call from abroad wherein the caller, impersonating a gangster, threatened to harm him if he didn’t pay money. A police officer from Ludhiana Rural police, familiar with the details of the complaints, said that after receiving the complaints, the cyber crime team started working on them. He revealed that during the investigation, police found that the caller deleted the WhatsApp account through which he allegedly made the calls.The officer said that apparently, the accused generated foreign numbers (from Malaysia) online and then called the two businessmen. He added that when the police were closing in on him using technical means, the accused stopped using WhatsApp, the platform through which the calls were made.“Most probably, the accused was a cyber fraudster who was trying to extract money from the complainants and was only impersonating a gangster to scare them so that they would accept their demand. This is quite common, and police will reach the accused,” said the police source. He advised the persons who receive such calls to immediately inform the police and maintain secrecy before such cases are traced.Police sources said that police don’t share much information about such cases before they are solved due to security-related reasons. They added that police do write to the concerned social media platform authorities, who do share the details about the callers in such cases. Recent CasesMay 10: Khanna police booked three individuals, including two brothers, for allegedly making an extortion call to a jeweller, demanding one kilogram of gold.Feb 7: A city-based businessman received an extortion call from an unknown international number. The caller allegedly threatened to kill him if he did not pay Rs 30 lakh. Ludhiana police registered a case against unidentified persons for extortion and criminal intimidation.Jan: Another city businessman received a threatening WhatsApp call from an international number. The caller, claiming to be a notorious gangster, allegedly demanded money and issued life threats to him and his family.MSID:: 122783698 413 |
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