Cuttack: In a show of audacity, the absconding third accused in OCAC CEO WhatsApp hacking case attempted to dupe Crime Branch ADG Sanjeeb Panda of Rs 98,000.
According to sources, the fraudster, impersonating an acquaintance, chatted with the ADG over WhatsApp and later requested him to send Rs 98,000 to two bank accounts, citing health emergency.
The Crime Branch has blocked both the accounts, one belonging to Gujarat and the other to Tripura, and begun a probe. The mobile numbers and email IDs associated with the accounts are being verified.
Notably, the cybercriminals had hacked the WhatsApp account of Odisha Computer Application Centre’s Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kumar Pattnaik and fleeced his close contacts of Rs 7 lakh on November 11.
A 40-year-old Nigerian national, Okwudiri Paschal, suspected to be the main accused in the case was arrested from Bengaluru on November 17. He was an associate of Chimelum Emmanuel Aniwetalu alias Maurice Degri, whom Delhi Police’s cyber cell had nabbed for allegedly hacking WhatsApp accounts and sending distress messages to people seeking money, earlier that month.
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