Bhubaneswar: A 19-year-old NEET aspirant from Nayapalli in Bhubaneswar thwarted a cyber fraudster’s alleged attempt to extort money by impersonating Odisha DGP Y B Khurania.
The young woman promptly lodged a complaint at the cyber police station after the incident, which mirrors a growing trend of “digital arrest” and police impersonation scams reported across India.
According to her statement, she received an anonymous call on a messaging app that displayed the DGP’s photograph in the afternoon. The caller claimed to be the DGP himself and accused her of regularly accessing banned pornographic websites. When she denied the allegation, he sent a video clip showing police personnel thrashing a man and warned that she would face similar treatment if she did not cooperate. “He claimed a police team had already been dispatched to my home and threatened that I would be humiliated before my family and neighbours. He demanded Rs 21,000 to stop the police from reaching my house,” TOI reported quoted the victim.
Recognising the tactics from public safety advisories previously circulated by Odisha Police, which clarified that no investigator would ever interrogate or investigate on the phone, she promptly hung up and approached the law enforcement agency.
Cyber police officers have commended her alertness and composure. The caller’s number has been blocked and efforts are on to trace him.
