Cases of anonymous calls, messages on the rise
KOCHI: While the police are yet to trace the person who sent the hoax bomb threat emails to officials of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), the number of cases of making intimidating phone calls and messages has been on the rise in Ernakulam district. According to police, a majority of such cases are related to cyberbullying and threats to defame the receivers using fake social media accounts. The police register a case under Section 120(O) of the Kerala Police Act when anonymous messages and calls become a nuisance and the receiver lodges a complaint.
As per the data with the police, 108 such cases were registered in the district, including 18 in Kochi city and 90 in rural police limits last year. Till July this year, 43 cases were registered — 27 in the city and 16 in rural station limits. Across Kerala, there were 1,375 cases registered under this section in 2020 and 248 cases till July this year.
“Mostly, KP Act 120(O) cases are related to cybercrime or cyberbullying. But we also register cases when annoying calls and postal letters are received. Following the lockdown declaration last year, the number of such cases increased substantially. Most cases were related to threatening messages through social media platforms that had adversely affected the family lives of the receivers,” a Kochi City police officer said. The police said with the advent of social media, cases of such nature have been increasing. Only 99 cases were registered in the state under Section 120(O) in 2016.
“Earlier, most of the complaints were related to anonymous threatening calls. Now the most common complaint is getting messages from fake social media accounts. Mostly, WhatsApp and Facebook are used for the purpose as these are popular. In some cases, bogus email IDs are used for sending emails,” the officer said.
Recently, CSL officials received threatening emails saying that a bomb attack would be carried out if an amount was not paid via bitcoin. Though the police have been trying to trace the email sender using the IP address, the case is yet to be cracked. Last week, Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly received a letter threatening to kill him from a person from Vengola. The MLA had sent the letter to the chief minister’s office to take necessary action. Later, it was found that it was sent from a fake postal address.