KOCHI: Having detected a fake Facebook account in the name of Kochi City Police Commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam, the police have launched a probe to identify the person behind it. A case in that regard was registered at the Kochi Cyber police station on Wednesday.
According to a police officer, a social media patrol had revealed the existence of the fake account.“Somebody copied pictures from the commissioner’s original Facebook account and created the fake account. We suspect the motive was extortion,” the officer said. The case was registered under IPC sections 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (used forged document or electronic record as genuine), 417 (cheating), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), IT Act Sections 66C (dishonestly use an electronic signature, password or unique ID identification features) and 66D (cheating using any communication device or computer resource).
The police will write to Facebook seeking information regarding the mobile phone or the email ID used for the purpose, the officer said.“We are trying to identify those who created the fake account of the city police commissioner. We expect Facebook to cooperate with the probe by providing the required information,” he said.
Last year, the police had arrested two Uttar Pradesh natives who created a fake Facebook account of ADGP Vijay Sakhare, who was the Kochi city police commissioner then. Several other top police officers in the state were targeted by cyber fraudsters in a similar fashion. “In most of these cases, north Indian rackets are involved. They send messages to friends demanding money. Keeping Facebook profiles locked is the apt solution to prevent such frauds,” the officer said.