Bhubaneswar: A 17-year-old school dropout was taken into custody in Odisha’s Sambalpur town on Thursday for allegedly trying to cheat scores of people after creating fake Facebook profiles of some top local politicians, including a minister in the state government.
The police were alerted by a few of the politicians whose fake Facebook profiles were allegedly created by the youth. After verifying the allegations, the police registered a case against him and took him into custody. The teenager was remanded to a correctional home for juveniles after preliminary investigations and his production before the juvenile justice board, said police.
The accused had created fake Facebook accounts in the names of Sambalpur district collector Shubham Saxena, health minister Naba Kishore Das, senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra, BJP legislator Jayanarayan Mishra, among others.
“I was told by a few people that someone was asking them for money in my name. The people know me and my character for decades. I informed the police and this young man was arrested,” said Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra.
Sambalpur Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Arora said a case was registered against the accused at the Town police station under Sections 419 and 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 66C and 66D (impersonation) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, on June 11.
“The accused was impersonating influential people in the area and contacting many people to seek various favours from them. He had created fake profiles in the names of the collector and several well-known and important people including some MLAs and MPs,” said Arora.
The youth has allegedly created as many as 100 fake accounts of local VIPs. Arora said the police have sought help from cyber experts to find out how many Facebook accounts were created and the kind of interactions carried out.
The accused was targeting those in the friend lists of dignitaries by contacting them and asking for favours such as getting mobile phones and money, added Arora.
Police sources said the accused had demanded Rs 1,000 from Siddhartha Saha, vice-chairman of Sambalpur Municipality. “Saha complained to the police and asked for the bank account number of the accused. He also deposited the amount in the bank account under police watch. The accused was arrested after his address was traced from his bank account,” said a police official.
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