A Class-X boy created a Twitter handle using the name of UP director general of police (DGP) just to make local cops in Gorakhpur district take action in a cheating case in which his elder brother had been gypped of Rs 45,000. The cops, who had not been taking action on their complaint, acted swiftly and the cheat even returned Rs 30,000 to the minor¡¯s brother and promised the remaining amount soon.
The boy and one of his friends involved in the case were detained and let off with a stern warning at the behest of the DGP. ¡°We took a reformative approach and let off both the school-going kids, as any action would have affected their future,¡± DGP OP Singh said.
The incident came to light over a month ago when the DGP office reported the matter to the Hazratganj police and subsequently a case was registered. The case was assigned to the cyber cell, which found that the Twitter handle, in the name ¡®OP Singh¡¯ and displaying the DGP¡¯s photo, was being operated from a phone in Maharajganj police station area of Gorakhpur. The cyber cell worked on the case further and tracked the boy behind the cyber fraud.
Cyber cell inspector Arun Kumar Singh said that the boy was detained on Saturday. ¡°When questioned, he said that he got the idea from another boy of his village and then created the Twitter handle using his friend¡¯s phone,¡± said Singh.
The boy further told the cops that one Sadiq Ansari of Maharajganj had taken Rs 45,000 from his brother, promising him a job in Dubai. When Ansari did not keep his promise, his family lodged a complaint with the Gulharia Bazaar police but no action was taken.
According to the boy, on many occasions, he accompanied his family to the police station to pursue the case but did not get any help.
In his statement, the class-X student spoke about the other boy from his village who suggested to him to make a Twitter account in the name of the DGP and then instruct SSP Gorakhapur to expedite the case.?
The trick worked as the local police swung into action when SSP Gorakhpur directed Maharajganj inspector to take prompt action, citing Twitter instruction from the DGP. The local police called Ansari, who promptly agreed to return the money and even refunded Rs 30,000 while promising to pay the balance soon.
When the Gorakhpur police updated the DGP office on the case, they were stunned as no such directive had been sent in this regard.
The DGP office then registered a case with the Hazratganj police to prevent further misuse of the account as the student had later also given instructions to the Maharajganj police and UP 100 on multiple occasions.
State police chief ¡¯s PRO Rahul Srivastava said that Twitter users can file complaints if they came across any fake Twitter accounts in the name of serving IPS/PPS officers @UPPViralCheck.