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New Delhi, December 27
The Bhopal Police arrested four individuals from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh and two from Alwar in Rajasthan for cheating people through fake Facebook profiles by impersonating the Bhopal Police Commissioner.
The kingpin was identified as Akash Namdeo, from Vidisha district. The police have also arrested Rahul Panthi, Vivek Raghuvanshi and Sonu, who used to sell SIM cards to other members of the gang.
The incident came to light when the Cyber Crime Branch received a complaint from Mahesh Kumar, a Bhopal resident stating that he had received a message on Facebook Messenger offering lucrative deals on old furniture.
The message was sent by a user named 'Hari Narayan,' whose profile picture featured the Bhopal Police Commissioner, Hari Narayanchari Mishra. He transferred Rs 45,000 via a QR code sent to him on Messenger.
The police stared that after tracking the number used to create the fake Facebook ID, the cyber cell tracked the fraudsters in Alwar and tracked the other accused too.
The probe showed that the accused used a fake profile with the picture of IPS officer Harinarayanachari Mishra, befriending people associated with his real Facebook profile. The accused used to send pictures of expensive furniture to people, quoting cheaper prices in a bid to lure them.
