Bihar gangs migrate to WhatsApp, WeChat
DARBHANGA: With affordable messaging applications like WhatsApp and WeChat now becoming popular among criminals, police are worried these applications are being used for extortion and to evade Call Data Record monitoring.
DARBHANGA: With applications like WhatsApp and WeChat becoming popular among criminals in Bihar, the police are a worried lot as the gangs are excessively using them to extort money and help them evade Call Data Record monitoring by security agencies.
Darbhanga police have arrested an alleged criminal who not only demanded ` 5 lakh from a teacher here but also sent him a photo on WhatsApp in which he was brandishing sophisticated weapons. The ‘smart’ modus operandi came to light when the teacher approached the police.
Following the complaint, a police team led by sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Dilnawaz Ahmad arrested Navin Singh alias Navin Thakur, a notorious criminal of Bablu Singh Dudhpiwa gang, involved in the extortion. The police are now hunting another accused Rajiv Dhakal who also had a role in the crime.
Ahmad told HT that the criminals had demanded money from Shyam Kumar Rai alias Kanhaiyaji, a resident of Navtolia locality under Bahadurpur police station. When Rai did not oblige, they sent him a photo in which one of the extortionists was posing with dreaded gangster Dudhpiwa brandishing pistols and bombs.
Ahmad said the criminals had resorted to innovative modus operandi to terrorise victims by using the application. Navin, who was jailed in connection with the sensational murder case of contractor in Donar locality a couple of years ago, is also involved in several other criminal cases.
Police sources said criminals have started using apps like WhatsApp to keep in touch with their gang members.
“In case of text messages, we can at least identify people who exchange messages even if we don’t know its content.However, with such applications, once you delete the chat history, the date cannot be retrieved,” said police.
Navin, a native of Amritpur Benua village in Samastipur district, was arrested from Navtolia under Bahadurpur police station on Friday.
Police also arrested his driver and seized his Scorpio. Four mobile phones, an ATM card, a voter ID and a PAN card were also recovered.