UP school teacher in Puducherry Police custody on cyber fraud charge

Firozabad (UP): The Puducherry Police on Monday took into custody a school teacher from Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad on the charge that his WhatsApp account was used to demand gifts in the name of the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory, officials said.

The accused, however, claimed that he does not use WhatsApp and so there was no question of him sending messages, the local police said. SSP Ashish Tiwari said a police team from Puducherry arrived here on Saturday after finding that the mobile number used in cyber fraud in the Union Territory was that of a teacher here.

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The Puducherry Police apprised the local police that WhatsApp messages were sent to many ministers asking them to buy gifts using Amazon cards and send those to the L-G. The WhatsApp account was created in the name of the Lieutenant Governor and had his photo in the DP, officials said.

On investigation, it was found that the mobile number associated with the WhatsApp account was in the name of Manoj Sharma, a school teacher who resided in the Ramgarh police station area of Firozabad, they said.

Inspector Santosh Kumar of the Puducherry Police contacted the local authorities and informed them about the whole matter after which the teacher was called to the Ramgarh police station and questioned for several hours. Circle Officer (City) Abhishek Srivastava said that during interrogation on Sunday by the team of Puducherry Police officials, prima facie it was found that an OTP was received on Sharma's mobile number after which the WhatsApp group was activated.

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Detailed investigations are underway, the circle officer said. An application for transit remand was made by the Puducherry Police in the court on Monday following which they took the accused in their custody, the official added.